Twisted Mirror
Un-eairkagh knew that child_dragon would not approve of what he was doing. So he slipped out shortly before dawn, taking no weapons, telling no one. He and Aldrai had always been close and all the eyrie wanted was his brother back.
"He called me traitor," Un-eairkagh said out-loud as he neared the ruined castle, "Please Aldrai… just listen to me."
The crumbling stone building sported only one sound structure in the entire heap: a single tower. At the top of the derelict roof crouched a red shape with huge bat wings. Aldrai. Power flickered around him, lighting up the tower like some great candle. Un-eairkagh flew closer and saw many pets, humans, and faeries gathered near the castle. Even as he watched one swayed and collapsed. No one seemed to be taking any action, just milling about in confusion. A couple pets tried to cross a certain stretch of ground only the be thrown violently back with a burst of light. Aldrai's barrier.
"Not gonna stop me," Un-eairkagh growled and soared higher.
The air currents carried him up above the castle. Aldrai and his tower was directly below him.
"Brother!" he cried, and folded his wings.
He fell, straight down onto the barrier. It flashed with power but Un-eairkagh did not open his wings to get away. The magic coursed through him and he screeched in pain. Then it was gone and he fell, smashing onto the tower roof and sliding to the edge. At the last minute Un-eairkagh managed to regain his senses and claw a hold on the tower roof. His hind legs dangled over the edge and he slipped further to falling. He dug his claws in and looked up to meet Aldrai's vague eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Aldrai asked in a lilting voice.
"I came to talk to you," the eyrie gasped.
"Why? What more is there to talk about?"
"Terraile has fallen into that coma. What are you doing to her?"
"She'll wake once the evil is gone."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm getting rid of all darkness. Those that have fallen in a coma will wake once it's all gone."
"But…"
The eyrie felt his grip slipping even further. He dug his claws in deeper, straining his muscles to support his weight. Now only his chest was on the roof.
"Aldrai… a little help…?"
But Aldrai wasn't paying attention anymore. His gaze was fixed out onto the sky and his eyes had faded to white.
"Aldrai! Please. Don't you remember… when Terraile smashed the obelisk? Not all darkness is evil! And… what about Deealoe? You forgave him even though he'd done so much wrong! Please… Aldrai. Ah – I'm about to fall off here."
"Darkness leads to evil," the Darigan zafara said absently, "It's best to just get rid of all of it. When I'm done there will be no more pain and suffering."
"You're hurting others though!"
This time Un-eairkagh saw something. Aldrai shuddered and the light around him faltered. Then it coursed through the zafara anew and Aldrai's back straightened.
"I knew you wouldn't understand. Just go. Brother."
Aldrai gestured and Un-eairkagh lost his grip on the roof entirely. He fell and managed to twist in midair. His wings snapped out and he flared them desperately, but not soon enough. He hit the ground with a horrible snap and fell on his side as his right front leg gave out under his weight. He lay there, faint and gasping as pain throbbed up his leg and into his chest. After a few minutes he reluctantly staggered to his three good paws and examined the damage. Probably broken. With a moan he tucked his paw up close to his ruff and limped towards the group of pets just outside the barrier.
"You got through!" one cried as he exited the protected area, "Why didn't you attack that thing?"
"Because… violence begets violence…"
"That's stupid," the pet replied scornfully.
"Leave him alone," a new voice snapped, a water faerie.
The crowd reluctantly moved away to leave him and the faerie alone.
"Here. Give me your paw," she instructed.
Un-eairkagh held it out to her and she gently placed one hand on it. Warmth spread through his injured leg and the pain vanished. He gingerly put it down and tested his weight on it. Fine. Perfectly healed.
"Thank you," he muttered.
"What did you find out?" she demanded.
"Nothing that concerns you."
"It does concern us! If child_dragon wasn't-"
"Shut up!" the eyrie snapped.
The faerie stiffened.
"Fine. But we're going to try to break through that barrier ourselves. If she won't stop him, we will."
And the faerie turned and flew off. Un-eairkagh growled deep in his throat at her back and then leaped into the air, heading back towards Neopia Central. Child_dragon would be so angry that he went alone. But perhaps what he learned would make up for it.
****
Un-eairkagh returned shortly after our second clan meeting had begun. I was about to yell at him but the look on his face stopped me. I had never seen my eyrie so serious.
We sat and listened in silence as Un-eairkagh relayed everything that he'd seen and heard.
"How on Neopia could he get rid of all darkness?" Melody asked once he was done.
"It doesn't seem possible. Darkness is a part of Neopia; it's one of the central elements. You can't get rid of it, can you?" Sabreur said.
I bowed my head and thought. The fabric… what had Von Roo meant? Then it came to me.
"My goodness… he can't – that's insane," I gasped out-loud.
"What? What is it?"
"He's reworking the fabric of Neopia. That's what this spell is. He's going to remove the dark element from existence."
Stunned silence greeted me.
"But.. that's not possible. The laws of physics…" Sabreur began.
"He's re-writing them," I snapped, "But it won't work. The elements are all joined in me. As long as I'm the Essence he won't be able to undo that one last thread that keeps darkness in existence."
"So this spell will fail. And what then?"
"It'll rebound on him. All that power he's unleashed so far – and is yet to unleash – will backlash right onto him. It'll destroy him. And it… might even spill over onto everyone that's connected to him through this spell. It could destroy everyone on Neopia."
"Surely he knows this!" MoonFall cried.
"I don't think he counted on me," I said grimly.
"So what do we do?" Sakuko asked.
I glanced around the room. Un-eairkagh was slumped in the corner of the couch, apparently asleep. I knew with a sinking heart that he wouldn't wake. Aldrai's spell finally got to him also.
"Kiddo?"
I took a deep breath. They couldn't do anything. Once again, this was my fight. And I knew what had to be done. I would not kill my own pet. The others… they couldn't know.
"You all do nothing. I'm going to confront Aldrai. Alone."