White Weewoos don't exist. *shifty eyes* Circulation: 81,826,882 Issue: 156 | 3rd day of Gathering, Y6
Home | Archives Articles | Editorial | Short Stories | Comics | New Series | Continued Series
 

The Rainbow Pearls: Part Four


by einstein20

--------

"People, wake up," moaned Quenelle, as she unsteadily pushed herself up, rubbing the base of her sore neck.

      "What the…" Chailyn drowsily said, as she rubbed her forehead trying to remember what had happened. "Does anybody recall what happened?"

      "It seems," answered Kirra, who could see their surroundings with her night vision, they were in a jail cell," that we found mother dearest's hide out."

      "And mother is so proud that her little girl is just so smart," Maelstra sneered sarcastically; she strolled out of the shadows followed by two featherbrained Chia henchmen. "Hello Kirra dear. I see that you brought friends. And I hope you have noticed my expensive new circlet." She added, cackling and gesturing to Rina's circlet, which lay on a red velvet pillow covered by a glass case. "Those rainbow pearls will make me very rich and everyone knows that those who have the money, have the power." She cackled some more.

      "We should have known it was you!" said Esne, angrily shaking the bars of their cell.

      "So you should have," replied Maelstra, smugly. She shifted her attitude to sympathy. "Oh I'm so sorry Kirra, that I have to have your new found friends vanish. I mean if they live, they'll tell everyone about me before I can sell this priceless circlet on the market."

      "Maelstra, my lady!" Kirra tried to play loyal servant for her friends' sake. She didn't know what was going to happen to them but Kirra knew it was going to erase them from the face of Neopia. "Can't they at least say good bye to their families before-before you pay your respects to them?" begged Kirra.

      "Yes, they can. I've ever so nicely brought some of their family here," Maelstra said, snapping her fingers.

      The Chias waddled into an adjacent room. When they came back, they were dragging the tied up pets behind them. Maelstra ordered them to take off the gags.

      Their small cries of help did nothing to hydrate Maelstra's prune of a heart, "Chailyn!" "Lucrece!" "Esne!" "Quenelle!" "Kirra!" Each pet was screaming their owner's name out of fear and the want for comfort.

      "Throw the useless beasts in the cell," ordered Maelstra, sounding disgusted and irritated. "Can't I get some peace and quiet around here?" Emphasizing it by throwing her arms above her head.

      All of them rejoiced to see each other again, loving licks and hugs and embraces were exchanged. However the goodness didn't last. Late that night when everyone was asleep, the Chias came and took the pets away again. When the morning came, there was much sorrow for they were pretty sure they knew what was to come that day.

      "Tonight I shall perform my magic show for you lucky Mallards," announced Maelstra, confirming their suspicions. However just before she turned away she added, "Oh, I knew I forgot to do something. Boys remove my beloved daughter." As the girls thought this was the last time they would see Kirra again; but Kirra wouldn't let her friends vanish to another dimension, not now, not ever. But kicking and screaming did nothing to loosen the Chias iron grips on her arms, Kirra wept openly as she was dragged into a solemn, pitch-black room.

      What to do? What to do? Kirra thought over and over. Crying wouldn't do anything good for her but there just had to be something she could do.

      Moments after Kirra had been dragged off, Chailyn suddenly exclaimed, "I've got an idea! If we could get the keys off Humpty and Dumpy"-she referred to their snoozing guards-"over there, we could get out."

      "Or," said Esne, snapping her fingers and a ball of flames popped onto her palm," I could just melt the lock."

      "That'll work," agreed Lucrece.

      "Okay," said Esne to herself as she walked over the lock, "let's see." She waved her not-burning hand under the lock. "It's gonna be a little while. This metal is pretty thick."

      "Just hurry, please," begged Quenelle.

      For hours, Esne was melting the lock, even after dark had covered their small cell. Luckily, Maelstra never came to check on them. All hope seemed lost when midnight was drawing near and as in all bad situations, midnight was go time. They hadn't seen heads or tails of their pets or Kirra and they began to hope for someone to rescue them.

     Suddenly Quenelle, who was dozing in a corner, sprang awake, "Did you hear that?" Her earth faerie instincts started to pick up noises.

     "Hear what?" asked Lucrece.

     "Me, you dolt," said Kirra's quiet voice. One collective gasp wept through the petite cell.

     "But you're not here. In this room. With us."

     "Look this gift thing comes with the package, okay. Just listen to me for a minute." Now everyone was looking around them, still not believing what was happening. "First, stop trying to melt the lock 'cause it isn't going to happen anytime soon. Second, I'm going to try something to get out my prison."

      Rapidly Kirra came running through the solid door of her cell, ran straight into the barred door of the others' captivity, and gave it a good kick. It flew open and the noise woke the Chias, who started to seize them again.

      "Scatter!" someone yelled.

      Everyone turned to a different direction, the Chias got confused instantly but each tried to take a different person to chase after. Maelstra heard the commotion, of course, and came into the room wearing her ritual robes. She was screaming at her henchmen but they didn't hear her. Esne was wrestling, Chailyn was throwing water motes at warp speed, Quenelle shooting arrows from a bow she produced from the air, and Lucrece was producing handy blinding lights.

     However, when she caught sight of her daughter, Maelstra used her powers and pushed her against the wall; the blow knocked Kirra unconscious. It was a tough fight and when Lucrece received a brief breather, she shot a blot of light into the sky before getting back into the struggle.

     Back at the Faerieland palace, Rina were looking out a window and saw Lucrece's ray of light. She knew immediately that her friend needed help. Rina ran through the palace in her embroidered nightgown, running to the queen's chambers. Fyora was reading one of her many novels in front of a small fire when Rina rushed in, panting out hardly decipherable words.

      "Mother! Mother! Lucrece! She needs our help!" Rina said franticly.

      "For what reason, darling," asked Fyora, looking up from her book with some seriousness.

      "I think she found the circlet," answered Rina, a little calmer, "but it came with a price."

      Fyora quickly switched to Queen mode. "Summon the guards!" She ordered a servant. "Do you know where we are going?"

      "Yes I do," replied Rina, as she hurried off to dress in something appropriate for the journey. In less than a few minutes, with Rina leading the way, the faerie queen and a group of guards were flying to the spot where she had seen the light.

     "Get off me you fat oaf!" shrieked Maelstra, as she kicked off one of the Chias

      All of the kidnapped were fighting and somehow the pets got the chains and gags off and were in the fight too. The fighting stopped when Maelstra rose from the ground holding an unconscious Chailyn.

      "You either give in or I make your friend disappear where she won't be coming back. But do not worry, she won't remember any of this," Maelstra threatened. She wasn't kidding because beneath Chailyn's limp body a portal opened up. They were really stuck between a rock and a hard place, until there was a low hum to be heard above them.

     "What is that?" Maelstra demanded to know. The Chias shrugged their shoulders foolishly. The hum became louder and Rina and Fyora crashed through the ceiling with their small army. As they landed, Maelstra ran for it. The soldiers ran after her but when she turned at to them, she was grinning evilly. Maelstra twinkled her fingers at them and vanished in a puff of dramatic, purple smoke.

      Meanwhile Rina had run to Lucrece, they hugged with tears streaking down their faces. Remembering the others, Lucrece turned to them and saw that Chailyn was falling through the portal and Quenelle was bleeding badly.

     "Hold on Chailyn, we'll get you out!" she screeched, and joined Kirra and Esne, who were trying to pull her out. Fyora's healer began to work on Quenelle.

     "No, we can't," Kirra said, the truth dawning on her. Maelstra had wanted to harm her because she was happy and Maelstra only looked out for Number One, so she was the only one supposed to be happy.

     "What are you talking about? Of course we can!" shouted Esne over the wind erupting from the portal.

     "It takes a faerie to close it and Chailyn isn't going to be that faerie."

     "Kirra! Don't do this for me!" yelled Chailyn. "We're all going to survive this!"

     "You're right, we are going to. My only wish was to get away from my fate. This is my chance." And in one smooth, flowing motion Kirra pulled Chailyn out and was sucked into it, in her friend's place. The portal disappeared in an ironic slurp! And all there was left was a quiet echo that was still bouncing off the stone walls of the underground chamber and the circlet with rainbow pearls glinting in the glow of the torches.

     It was sunny the day Kirra's plaque was planted. Quenelle was still a bit woozy and was sitting in a wheel chair with Shalin kneeling at her feet; Chailyn stared into space, not uttering a word or moving a muscle; Esne stood in a corner with tears sliding down her cheeks and Faris sat with Chailyn's Primellas between his paws; and Lucrece sat in a chair at the front weeping softly into a silk handkerchief. Rina and Fyora attended as the guests of honour but no one had higher status than Jovan, Kirra's adored Eyrie.

     Afterwards, the remaining four girls sat in a circle on the green grass in front of the small party tent Fyora had built for the sole purpose of the ceremony. There was a warm breeze blowing and the faeries were fanning themselves with their wings, but Esne, Quenelle, Chailyn and Lucrece sat in the shade with a miserable Jovan because their moods didn't need the cheer of sunlight. Nothing could even add up to what Kirra did for Chailyn or any of them.

     They walked in silence, Quenelle being pushed by Lucrece, as they approached Kirra's memory marker in the palace courtyard, which sat in the shade of a beautiful fruit tree in blossom. It read, Beloved Friend, Fallen Angel; She Finally Got Her Wings. They just stood there, reading the message over and over.

     "Do you think she's happy wherever she is?" Their heads swiveled to face Chailyn who had finally spoke for the first time in days. "Well, do you?" Jovan walked up to the plaque and sat in front of it, studying it with his depressed eyes while the others pondered their answers to Chailyn's question.

     "What's this?" he muttered when he lifted his right paw and found a folded piece of paper under it.

     "What've you got there, Jovan?" Esne asked, noticing the paper he was toying with. She bent down and took it from him, and took a look at it herself. "Did you just find this, now?"

     "Yeah. Weird, isn't it?" Now all of them were interested in the note and were trying to get a look at it over Esne's shoulder. "So, what's it say?"

     "Thanks for the chance, but you still owe me some Neopoints." It couldn't be. Could it? Was the thought that was running through their minds. It couldn't--shouldn't-- be possible. But when they looked to the sky, they all could have sworn a shooting star streaked across the lively blueness.

THE END

 
Search the Neopian Times




Other Episodes


» The Rainbow Pearls: Part One
» The Rainbow Pearls: Part Two
» The Rainbow Pearls: Part Three



Other Stories


---------

SQUAD Squadron: First Mission -- Part One
As the Chef was ushered into Mumbo Pango's hut, absolute terror filled every bone in the Flotsam's body. He had only been inside the huge hut once before, when he sought refuge from his destroyed Maraqua home, but it still hadn't changed...

by cosmicfire918

---------

Daughter of a Star: Part One
Jane walked into her bedroom and flopped onto her bed. She reached under her pillow and removed a tiny photograph of her and Amy the day Amy adopted her from the pound...

by shadih_temporary

---------

Finding Kourage: Part One
"What ever is the matter, Mopey Maieben?" The Aishas had given her various nicknames, Mopey Maieben was among them. Maieben ignored them and proceeded on her journey. This was normal. But, today they did not give up...

by larenbeka

---------

The Princess and the Pauper: Part One
This was just too good. To do something that her owner would never expect! Ilana forced herself to be calm as she sat down. The bottled-up anger was flowing free as creative waves… There! She had it! The most brilliant idea!

by shadowcristal

---------

Princess of Erodaire III: Part One
This time, King Alastare seemed to be staring straight at me. I gazed into his eyes, hoping for a sign of pardon, but I couldn't find any.

by christinetran



Submit your stories, articles, and comics using the new submission form.