Story
Chapter 15: Hope is the Thing With Feathers
“My…my wings? But how?” Baelia says, wincing as the ever-present pain of the vestigial follicles on her back flares up. Those few feathers have always somehow been so heavy, and right now they feel as though they may bring her to her knees.
“My dear, I am the most skilled artificer in Neopia – and beyond. I could easily hammer out a new pair of wings for you.” Drakara draws ever so slightly nearer. Baelia hears her friends try to move closer behind her, but one twitch of her past captor’s hand and they freeze in their tracks.
“I-I could be useful again?”
“Why, of course. You’ll have your magic and be able to fly. I could grant you it to you all once more.” Drakara says as she raises her hand to Baelia’s face and wipes away a tear that she hadn’t even noticed.
“But how?”
“Oh my darling caged bird, I was the one who took your wings away. Who would know better than I how to restore them?” Drakara’s other hand now grasps Baelia’s face. She hears her friends trying to call to her, but they sound miles away. It is once again just her and Jennamura. Despite no bars being between them, she still could not escape her grasp.
“You’ve lost all your power. All your beauty. All your hope.”
Yes, Baelia thinks to herself, I know.
“But I made you what you are today. And I can make you into what you will be tomorrow, too.”
That makes sense…
“The most powerful, beautiful Light Faerie in all of Neopia.”
A Light Faerie? Her as a Light Faerie again? She hadn’t realised it until now, but she had stopped thinking of herself when it came to Light Faeries… but that’s what she wants, right? Luxinia pops into her mind, then, she is a powerful Light Faerie. Confident and comforting. Shining her brightest even when it’s hard. But she’s never really been anything like Luxinia…
Baelia tries to pull back, out of Drakara’s grasp, but her captor holds tight for a moment before releasing. But the Dark Faerie leaves her arm outstretched to Baelia. Waiting...
“B, don’t listen to her!” Tavi yells from somewhere behind her. She sounds closer now. Tavi! Tavi had done so much for her. Freed her, stayed with her, saw her… but it wasn’t enough. After all these years, they were never able to find her a name. Never able to figure out who she is.
Drakara’s hand reaches closer once more. Baelia hates her, has hated her, with every fibre of being, but… she isn’t wrong; without her, Baelia will always be nothing.
“You don’t need her!” Luxinia shouts. She sounds almost right next to Baelia now. “And you don’t need those wings to be useful! You’re more than that!”
The cries of her friends flood in. Her friends' words push back at Drakara's as hard as they can. Yet, Drakara doesn’t move. Her eyes simply flare as she says, “I’ve heard enough.” And with that, her friends’ voices ricochet away once more.
One voice remains, however. “Baelia, fight this!” Queen Fyora’s voice is weak, but her tone is persistent.
“Oh, Fifi. You, of all people, can’t be acting as though you are on this pitiful girl’s side now,” Drakara laughs as she turns to Fyora. Their eye contact breaks, and Baelia gasps for breath. “Not when you're the one who used to turn Faeries grey.”
“What… what do you mean?” Baelia’s voice almost fails.
“That’s not the full truth, and you know it!” Fyora shouts, turning towards Baelia with a pleading look of guilt. Baelia’s knees buckle, and she collapses to the ground, prompting her friends to try once more to move to her side. Drakara places a hand on her shoulder as a clear message to stay back.
“Come now, Fifi, tell her. Tell her how you hid away every reference to the Grey Ritual, because of how you doomed her and those like her!”
“The Grey Ritual?” Baelia says, barely above a whisper.
Fyora attempts to stand. Nyx and Juni aid her, but she only gets partway before collapsing again. The Queen takes a deep breath and seems to resign herself to the ground before continuing.
“It’s not how she makes it sound, I swear to you, Baelia.” Fyora's voice is weak, pleading, no longer the firm, regal cadence of a Queen's. “The Grey Ritual was meant to be a pilgrimage of sorts… One that faeries who felt a disconnect with their magic could voluntarily choose to undergo.”
“Why…why would you hide this?” Baelia says, as she wraps her arms around herself, trying to quell her shaking
“Because, ‘choice’! ‘Choose’ is the important word for this ritual, but the almighty Queen came to believe herself above that, didn’t she?!” Drakara’s words drip with malice.
“Faeries used to… choose to be turned grey?” Baelia asks, her head spinning.
“When I took my predecessor's throne, I forbade the use of the Grey Ritual as anything other than a means to help faeries find what called to them outside of their magical ties. The one time I went back on that… When I used it as a punishment– just like the former Queen… it changed everything.”
“It certainly did,” Drakara scoffs.
“I swear, I thought it was the only way to save you, Drakara!” Fyora cries, “The others, they wanted you–”
“Silence! You’ve said all we needed to hear.” Drakara smirks as she wrenches Baelia to her feet. “If you could forcibly turn others to ‘save’ them. Then so could I.”
“Don’t you see now, my little grey one,” Drakara continues as she pulls Baelia in closer. “There is still so much that you don’t know. Without me, you’ll forever remain a weakling on the outskirts of society.”
“Stop this,” Fyora’s voice once again pushes back at Drakara. She’s standing now, only slightly supported by Nyx. “There is a lot you don’t know, Baelia… And there is a lot I need to atone for, but the ritual only turned faeries grey. Their hearts are what transformed them after.”
The grey around Fyora begins to creep up her arm as she speaks. “Having someone else turn you into what they think is best… Well, just look at yourself, Drakara. How did that turn out for you?”
“I said silence!” Drakara spits as she turns to Fyora.
Without any hint of her next move, Fyora sends a surge of power right toward them, just close enough to Baelia that Drakara has to release her grip to block it. As Fyora’s attack streams forth, the grey afflicting her inches its way around her body, but she doesn’t stop, even as her other wing begins to droop.
Drakara easily blocks the attack, but it acts as a wall between her and Baelia. Baelia realises this is the perfect opportunity to flee, to leave Drakara’s grasp once more, but she finds she can not move. Until she feels something move across her shoulder. A shadow? She turns around. Someone stands there with the halo of the sun over their shoulder. “Who?” she whispers.
The figure steps forward. A little Kyrii, looking almost exactly the same as the first time they met like this, but with a familiar smile as she extends her hand out.
Tavi grabs Baelia's hand before anything else registers and pulls her back toward their friends. Fyora's magic dwindles as the two of them reach the group, and they all form a barrier around Baelia, as if protecting her from her former captor. And yet, even though she is safe amongst them, she can still feel the pull of Drakara’s gaze.
“Saying one final goodbye, are we?” Drakara chuckles. Baelia’s friends pull in closer around her, but the Dark Faerie seems unperturbed by their presence. Her glare cuts right through them to get to her. “We can go back and forth on this as many times as you’d like, but deep down you know we are the same.”
Drakara reaches out her hand, slowly, methodically. “You know I am your only option.”
Before she can even stop herself, Baelia takes a step forward, but her friends are all there in front of her.
“It’s okay, B. We’re here,” Tavi says, looking back at her over her shoulder as she stands ready with her climbing hooks out.
“Ya, don’t listen to her, Baelia. She doesn’t know anything about you,” Nyx says as Juni gives a supportive “Yip yip!” next to her. Both are poised to fight, their void essence shimmering as they ready themselves for an attack.
“Come now, Baelia.” Drakara’s cold tone snatches Baelia’s very breath from her once more, and she takes another step. Drakara is still her only option… her only path to be useful again. Her lungs burn as she goes for another step. Without Drakara, she is still nothing after all; she is still useless. She can’t trust her; she knows this… her heart pounds in her chest. But she is still just Baelia, the grey faerie.
“Just breathe,” Luxinia’s hand softly squeezes her own. “Focus on what you can in the moment. Focus on what’s right for you.” Luxinia then lightly cups Baelia’s face in her hands, and she’s finally able to take heaving breaths as tears flow down her cheeks. Baelia had felt hands on her like this just moments ago and almost instantly accepted that she’d never escape them. But this feels different; she doesn’t want to leave these hands, but knowing she can if she chooses to–
She gently grasps Luxinia’s hands from her face and takes them in hers. No push back, no hesitation. Luxinia has nothing but concern and care in her eyes as Baelia turns back to face Drakara’s glare.
Drakara sighs. “How disappointing. I’d hoped to do this the easy way, but no matter. The hard way is just as easy. For me at least.”
What’s Going On, Baelia?
Drakara has offered me my wings back. Once again in her grip, I’m not sure I’m strong enough to escape. Especially after finding out about Fyora and the Grey Ritual… But my friends are still fighting for me, even when I’m not sure what to think anymore.