Illusen's Quest

      "Are you sure this should be our plan of action?" Timaris asked, cutting off more thorny vines with her dagger. "It could very well be a conspiracy from Jhudora to get back at you."

      "Well, I know Jhudora enough to believe that it isn't," Illusen answered, closely following the Moehog archer and keeping an eye out for anything that seemed remotely dangerous. There wasn't a thing as being too cautious while traversing these parts of the woods. "Jhudora won't legitimately try to harm me, unless of course she wanted to deal with Queen Fyora's wrath. Yes, she loves to play pranks on me and at times, I return the favour, but I guess it's more of a friendly rivalry, not some serious animosity."

      "I really doubt the feeling is mutual on her side." Timaris said, rolling her eyes. "Though I have to ask, what was it that caused you two to grow, uh... hostile? No, competitive... What caused you two to grow so competitive with each other?"

      "Hmm, don't know." Illusen shrugged, her reply noncommittal. "We've been like that since our time at the Academy. Guess it just never got old."

      Timaris stopped and gave Illusen her best "for real?" stare, but instead of answering, Illusen grabbed Timaris by her shirt and pulled her out of the way in the nick of time as a large wooden spike flew past them and impaled itself on a nearby tree trunk. "Phew, that was close! Had you not pulled me away, I'd be—"

      "Later!" Illusen yelled as she grabbed Timaris by the wrist and flew off, evading another pair of spikes. "The plants must've sensed our presence. They don't like intrusion at all."

      "Can't you control plants?" Timaris asked, pulling an arrow out with her teeth and firing it at another projectile before it could make contact.

      "With consent! These plants won't listen to me!"

      While Illusen tried to keep the both of them safe by dodging as many spikes as she could by expertly maneuvering between them, Timaris managed to knock down a few more that came directly at them. Unfortunately, the arrows in Timaris's quiver were limited and she had to eventually resort to deflecting the incoming spikes with her bow. However, one of her deflections missed the mark and the spike managed to graze Illusen's wing, sending the duo crashing down.

      After the Earth Faerie picked herself up from the ground and helped Timaris get back up on her feet, she noticed that the assault had died down. They were no longer being pursued, which was a nice thing, but knowing where they were, it felt rather odd.

      "Are you alright?" Timaris quickly swung her backpack around to her chest and unzipped it to get the first-aid kit out, but Illusen stopped her, telling her that she was fine and unscathed.

      As the both of them dusted themselves off, Illusen heard the faint whimpering and groaning of a Petpet in the distance and instinctively rushed towards the sound. Once she made her way past the trees, she found herself entering a clearing, at the centre of which stood a large stone statue thrice her height, dusty, cracked and covered in a thick layer of moss.

     Upon closer inspection, she discovered that it resembled the Darkest Faerie. A necklace hung on its neck, the amethyst pendant dull. On the ground beside the statue’s base was a Bartamus, ensnared in thorny vines. She tried to approach the Petpet, but it hissed hatefully at her when it noticed her.

      "Hey, little one!" Illusen said, her hands raised in defence. "I'm here to help you, alright. Jhudora sent me to retrieve you."

      The Bartamus didn't care though. It just continued to glare and hiss.

      "Seems like the Petpet shares its owner's distaste for you." Timaris remarked dryly when she caught up to her. "Let me try."

     The Moehog approached the Petpet cautiously, who still looked wary but was slightly calmer. Meanwhile, Illusen flew up to inspect the necklace, which had caught her attention. She tugged it free from the statue and brushed her thumb against the pendant to remove the moss.

     “We can see your heart…”

     An ethereal female voice had echoed inside the Earth Faerie’s head all of a sudden, making her jolt. “Who’s there?” she called out, turning her head from side to side to check her surroundings, but there weren’t any strangers around. Instead, that was when she realized that Timaris had been captured by the predatory fauna as well; the vines had coiled around the Moehog and were tightening their hold on her with every passing second. She tried to yelp, to let out any sort of noise, but her efforts proved futile as the vines dug deep into her throat.

     “Timaris!” Illusen shouted and was just about to dive down to save her when the voice rang inside her head again.

     “Illusen…”

     The Earth Faerie stopped in her tracks, confused. “Who are you?” she cried out. “Where are you hiding?”

     “Do you really want to help the Moehog? Think again…”

     “Of course I do! What nonsense are you saying?”

     “We can tell…” This time, a disembodied male voice spoke. “What your heart so desires to do…”

     “You wish to let go…” Another voice joined in, also masculine. “It’s been a tiring day…”

     “No, you’re wrong!” Illusen exclaimed, but faltered soon after. Were they actually wrong though? Deep down inside, a small part of her was exhausted from having to deal with an issue that was technically irrelevant to her. She would’ve been more than willing to assist any Neopian in need had the problem occurred during the day or at least when she’d had sufficient rest. “No!” She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. Did her conscience really just tell her to impose rules on when it was okay to help?

     “You love to help, but are you really helping?” the third voice resumed. “Do they appreciate your help? If they don’t, why do you care?”

     “They need me!” Even as Illusen uttered this, she didn’t believe in her own statement for some reason. She wasn’t exactly sure why she was doubting herself either. As her mind swirled deeper into a bottomless pool of pessimistic thoughts, three spirits gradually took form in her field of vision, translucent and barely visible. She gasped in shock; she knew who they were.

     The Three.

     “Not really…” The words were spoken by the faint spectre of a Dark Faerie, who was flanked on either side by the ghosts of a male Gelert and Skeith. “Besides, whether you help or not, there are always Neopians out there who will criticize you..."

     The forest suddenly faded out of sight, replaced by a vintage scene which showed the Meridellian crowd roaming the dirt roads, all either whispering or shouting as they showed their open disdain for the Earth Faerie.

     “Where was Illusen when we needed her? She’s all talk and no show!”

     “How dare she consider herself one of us if she never contributed to the war between Meridell and Darigan!”

     “Of course she’d be missing. Why would she care if it didn’t involve her? She’s just as selfish as Jhudora.”

     “Your life isn’t as peaceful as what you wish it could be,” the Dark Faerie stated. “In fact, it could be so much more serene if you weren’t so selfless and benevolent...”

     “Sometimes, they don’t need your help,” the Gelert added. “Instead, you’d need theirs, but they’re not always happy about it..."

     The scene switched, morphing into a more familiar place: Illusen’s glade. Neopians milled around outside her home, many wearing grumpy faces and complaining to their peers.

     ”Sixteen minutes! Is she kidding?”

     ”She couldn’t even get the item herself, let alone give us such a ridiculous deadline!

     ”If she really needed it, she could go get it herself! This is the final time I’m ever considering helping her!”

     Illusen was so dismayed that her wings missed their rhythm, making her tumble forward. When she regained her balance, her surroundings had changed again and she was back in the forest.

     “It’s hard to be kind. You’ve borne enough burden,” the Skeith commented. Realizing that his spectral voice had become slightly louder, the Earth Faerie raised her head and noticed that the Three had approached dangerously close to her. She reared back instinctively, but none of them seemed bothered by her reaction.

     The Dark Faerie took over the conversation and extended her hand. “Why don't you consider getting back at those who had betrayed you, who hadn't appreciated you?”

To be continued…