The faerie queen sat on her golden throne, all regal elegance and enchanting majesty. Despite his concern about Lilicah's condition, Dar couldn't help admiring her alluring beauty- she had to be the loveliest creature he had ever seen.
Fyora smiled serenely, her amethyst eyes sparkling like jewels, like stars. Her rosy lips parted in welcome as she stood to greet the visitors. Dar fixed his glance on her face, marveling at the old wisdom in her eyes contrasting with her young and comely features. Fyora's creamy rose-and-apricot skin, gilded by the faintest hint of summer sun, was absolutely free of wrinkles, though Dar knew she must be centuries old. Her long violet tresses cascaded down her purple-satin back as she curtsied, glittering like irises lit by starlight.
"Welcome, DuskWinged_Darigan," she greeted him, her voice as light and melodious as an angelic melody, but welding awesome power at the same time. "Marina has informed of your plight."
Dar found it hard to speak, almost blinded by her lavender radiance. "Y-yes, your majesty? Marina sent me here. It's about my-my owner." Dar swallowed, trying to stop himself from crying. It was funny how, in front of someone who might vanquish the problem, he was finally beginning to realize the consequences.
The faerie queen nodded gravely. "The Mage Lilicah. She has done a great deal of good for our people. We have not forgotten her and will certainly not ignore her in this time of peril."
Dar blushed, quite embarrassed of his unimpressive address. "Th-thank you. Marina said the only cure is if she's a faerie- I mean if she's transformed or converted?"
Fyora looked worried, perplexed. "Marina proposed initiation into our society?" she mused. "I certainly must think on this matter and consult with my advisors. It is only done in times of great danger." Seeing Dar's hopeful face grow bleak, she added hastily, "But we will certainly do something. You may take my word for it."
Lilicah looked weaker that night when Dar returned from the faerie castle. Her porcelain skin had faded to a deathly shade of bone-marrow white, tinged with the hideous gray of decay. Her formerly bright, intelligent eyes were dull and lifeless, and wrinkles seemed to appear on her young face. Dar's heart sank when he saw her. She was growing old, slipping away before his eyes.
Dar shut his eyes instinctively. He couldn't stand to stay there and watch his owner wilt. He turned toward the corridor, bound for his room, when the newly revitalized bluesticks caught his eyes. Dar clenched his fists, feeling an irrational, powerful fury coursing through his veins. Just yesterday, the bluesticks had been weak and dying. Just yesterday, Lilicah had been beautiful and strong. Dar bit his lip tentatively, feeling some strange knowledge click in his mind. His beloved mistress was giving up her life for a plant!
Dar closed his eyes, feeling his powerful wings glide on top of the table. He heard the horrid, musical clinking of shattering glass and the nasty cracking sound of broken life. When his eyes opened, the bluesticks lay on the ground, arranged almost magically among a bed of broken glass. The plant lay broken, dying, the stem completely severed in half. I hate you, his mind yelled at the bluesticks, I hate you, at the orb. I- Dar stopped himself when he saw Lilicah peering at him from the doorway. Even weakened as she was, her face still lit up in caring and concern. Dar felt the anger dying within him, replaced with a sense of shame and a bitter, freezing sorrow.
Without a warning, Dar's golden eyes overflowed with cascades of crystal tears, clouding his vision and his gaze. Instead of saving a life, he had taken a new one. Dar knelt on the floor and sobbed. His life was unraveling before his eyes.
Lilicah knelt down next to him and gathered him up in her arms. Dar was weeping openly now, the tears still running down his face, as his owner comforted him with hopeful affirmations. Slowly, the world seemed better in his eyes.
"Did you talk to the faerie queen today?" Lilicah asked gently.
"Yes," Dar sniffed. "She said she had to consult with her advisors' about a solution Marina thought of."
"What is the solution?" Lilicah wanted to know, sounding, for the first time, worried about herself.
Dar frowned. The idea of becoming a faerie had always confused him. "She says you have to be a faerie. That doesn't make any sense. Aren't you already part faerie? What good what it do?"
Lilicah allowed herself a sigh. "I only have a drop of faerie magic in my blood. It allows me to commune with their society and gives me a certain advantage when dealing with the fantastical. However, only full faerie blood is able to combat magical diseases."
"Then why doesn't she just do it?" Dar demanded. "Why consult with the advisors? Can't she just wave her wand and make it happen?"
Half-smiling, Lilicah's eyes regained a little of their glow. "Fyora is wise in doing this. Not only is it a difficult process involving much ceremony and legality, but it is not something that may be doled out as needed. Think about it, Dar. If I become a faerie, then every other Neopian would want to as well. They will talk about unfair advantages, because I work with the faeries. Fyora is trying to avoid that sort of pressure on her kingdom. Not only would it deplete funds- magically speaking, but if she is so busy conducting initiations, then someone like Jhudora could gain control of Faerieland. And if she refuses these requests, Neopia could very well revolt against the faeries."
Dar nodded. "I suppose I understand now. But I still hope she lets you do it."
Lilicah grinned, looking a little more like her old self. "We'll see. But no matter what happens, we'll make it through."
Owner and Neopet laughed for the first time in hours, seeing a ray of hope light up their desperate, dark night.