See You Soon!

Smatty stepped eagerly out of her small home atop Terror Mountain, and immediately rushed over to her mailbox. "It's here!" the red Kyrii declared in joy, grabbing an envelope from the box.

     The envelope had a large golden seal on it, with the letter 'F' in the center of it, which meant it was sent using Fyora's delivery service. She knew it was Strophagus' reply to her letter.

     It had been two weeks since the two of them had last seen each other. Two weeks since they'd gone a quest for Fyora, and succeeded.

     Smatty skipped happily back into her small house, ripping the envelope open along the way. She removed and unfolded a fine piece of paper from it, and practically glued her eyes to it, as she read...

      Dearest Smatty,

     I offer my apologies for not writing back to you sooner. Queen Fyora has been keeping me busy - yesterday I was in Mystery Island delivering a batch of the clovers we found to Jhuidah! Yes, for once, Queen Fyora informed me of what the purpose of our little errand was. Apparently, the queen's clovers are an ingredient to a cooking pot recipe. But it's not just any recipe, this one actually creates a medicine that heals a sickness that's been sweeping all of the island. It makes you feel glad that we accomplished our task, no?

     How are you? I am doing pretty well, but I miss being on Terror Mountain with you. Well, somewhat. I prefer sleeping on my regal oak wood bed to sleeping in that...tent. The food is also much better here, I was never quite fond of the snow sandwich.

     But Faerieland is missing a certain atmosphere that Terror Mountain had. Upon returning to Fyora's head quarters, I felt that a part of me didn't want to be around Faeries all day. But alas, this is my work.

     I am terribly sorry that I could not send some chocolates along with this letter, but I couldn't fit them into the envelope. No boxes were in sight, and my time was limited.

     Your friend,

     Strophagus (Not Strophy!)

     Smatty chuckled at the signature of the letter, and pulled out a tatty pencil from her desk's drawer. She paused for a moment and bit her lip, but then began...

      Hi Strophy!

     It's okay, life went on without your letter. But just barely, I'm practically dying up here because of a lack of friends. Okay, I have Old Bruce, but he lives in the middle of nowhere. Taelia's always mad at me because I tend to forget to do her quests; it's not like we can hang out, so it looks like I'm stuck with you. Oh yeah, you live in Faerieland. Man, I'm such an unlucky person.

     So Queenie needed all of those herbs to save people from having soar throats in Mystery Island, huh? Sounds good to me! Especially since she gave me a boatload of Neopoints for helping you find it.

     How am I doing? I'd say...pretty well. With those Neopoints I've managed to buy...nothing, actually. Oops. They've been sitting on my couch this entire time. It's the thought that counts, right? Anyway, I can't believe you seriously miss this place. I'd love to be living in Faerieland...with all of those things you just mentioned. Except deep down in your heart, you know that the soggy tent is awesome. I can see why you don't like being around the Faeries, them being not the same species or gender of you and all of that stuff.

     Oh no! No chocolates? How will I carry on, Strophy, how? Ah, well. I think I'll live.

     One last thing, Strophy. Would it be possible for me to...visit Faerieland? I mean, since you've visited my place, it's about time that I come see you on your own turf. I'd like to go on a tour of the magical little hidden palace where you work, and maybe even meet Queenie herself! Just a thought, I understand if it's not possible.

     Seeya!

     -Smatty

     ***

     A young light faerie knocked on the royal Quiggle's office door. "Strophagus?"

     "Yes, come in," he called back.

     "You've got mail! ...Sorry, I've always wanted to say that." The Faerie laughed, and gave him the envelope.

     Strophagus smiled, and said, "Smatty's letter! I...did not expect such a fast response." He read it twice, the first time checking it for any grammatical errors. That was simply something he had to do when reading a text.

     The Quiggle's face lit up with excitement when he saw that Smatty was interested in visiting him.

     Ten minutes later, Strophagus was sitting opposite from Fyora's desk, with a pleading look on his face. "Queen Fyora, could Smatty please come visit? If only for a week?"

     "I don't know, Strophagus, it seems as if she might interfere a bit with your work," the Queen teased.

     Strophagus raised an eyebrow, and reassured her, "Absolutely not! Smatty would only help me with whichever task you assign me."

     "Perfect!" Fyora said with a sly grin. "Here, I'll have her invitation prepared in a half an hour."

     "Oh, thank you, wonderful Queen Fyora! I really appreciate-"

     "Enough with the flattery, Strophagus, get back to work."

     "Yes, Queen!" The Quiggle rushed giddily out of the room; just the thought of seeing his friend again was enough to make his day.

     ***

     Smatty was once again at her desk, reading in amazement the letter she'd just recently received...

      Dear Smatty,

     First things first: My name is Strophagus. I don't even know why I still try to tell you this, though... Moving on.

     You have not spent your Neopoints yet, at all? I would normally find that truly difficult to believe, Smatty, but I can definitely see how you would procrastinate like that.

     I have some good news, Smatty. Queen Fyora has agreed that you'll be able to come visit me in Faerieland! Is next week okay with you? The information is attached to this letter, please look it over and send confirmation immediately!

     Yours truly,

     Strophagus

     Smatty arose from her chair, and gave an exclamatory, "Yay! I'm going to Faerieland, I'm going to Faerieland..."

     After she had finished jumping up and down on her couch, and twirling around in circles, she sat back down to write her response.

      Dear Mr. Strophagus, (Happy now?)

     Thank you SO much! I can't believe it, this is amazing! I never thought that I'd ever be able to visit Faerieland, or any other place in Neopia. Next week is fine for me, it's not like I have anything planned. I was actually thinking about completing one of Taelia's quests, but... Nah. Going to Faerieland and visiting you and Fyora sounds like so much more fun.

     I'm literally packing my suitcase as I write. Maybe I'll pack some chocolates made out of snow, just to spite you. But no, they'd probably melt.

     I just know that we're in for an adventure. Nothing in all of Neopia is going to stop us from having the best time ever.

     See you soon!

     -Smatty

The End