"Right," Zoe said.
"So, where are our disguises? Our plans? Our hideout? All things a false Fyora would be likely to get wrong... having never have seen either of us, because of that Techo sidekick."
"And if they don't?"
"Well, we're in big trouble then, aren't we?"
Blanche had finally managed to worry herself into a nap, while tigger2002guy was boredly munching on a biscuit. BeatofSaint01 was looking out the window into the clear night sky, hoping for more NeoMails. Jhudora was sitting on a cushy armchair and reading a book. The funny thing was, though, that she was a supposedly really evil faerie and she needed reading glasses.
Suddenly, though, Jhudora dropped her book and sat quite still. It was the first change in routine for ages, and Blanche, who was a light sleeper, woke up.
Jhudora concentrated on the purple wall in front of her, as intently as if something horrible was happening there. Blanche stared at the wall too, but nothing had happened to it.
"No... no..." Jhudora mumbled. "You can't be as foolish as all that..."
Blanche watched with interest as Jhudora spoke to the wall.
"Fool!" Jhudora yelled at the wall, as she stood up abruptly and her chair fell down onto tigger2002guy. "How do you suppose to get away with this? The Faeries aren't as stupid as that! They'll see something, hear something... very soon they'll know exactly what happened! And those Neopians... well, of course they're stupid, but not that stupid!"
She paused again, as if listening to something more.
"No, I didn't! And you won't be able to get away with telling them something as far-fetched as that!"
Another pause.
"Yes, I know about my reputation, but they'd have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that I was guilty, and with yourself as key witness...!"
Another pause.
"Oh, I know they're all biased against me. That accursed newspaper, of course. But I will not give them a reason to be biased against me!"
Jhudora's eyes suddenly went into focus again, as she looked at the wall dazedly.
"Yes..." she mumbled. "Break off when you're fighting a losing battle..."
"What was that about?" asked tigger2002guy. "Besides, your chair crushed my tail!" He mewed pathetically.
She turned around to face the three pets in her cloud.
"Come now, dears," Jhudora said. "I believe we have a plot to stop."
All four prisoners were sitting, quite bored, in their cell now.
"We have to be tried soon," Jess said finally. "It went dark hours ago."
"No, just half an hour ago," Zoe replied... as she was smart enough to bring her watch.
Jess walked over to the bars to her cell and shook them rapidly.
"OI!" she yelled. "Getting bored in here!"
The Grundo Guards laughed at her stupidly.
"Thanks for the help," she mumbled.
"This is sooo stupid," aussiejewel said. "I just know that I'm going to have a bad hair day at court. I mean, where are my grooming supplies? And they confiscated my mirror! What am I going to do?"
"Go without your grooming supplies?" Jess suggested. "Ah, this is more like it."
She gracefully took a note from yet another Grundo Guard.
"What does THIS one say?" asked Zoe.
"Fifteen minutes til trial time," Jess replied. "Apparently our court appearance was scheduled for seven-thirty."
"AAAAARGHHH!" yelled aussiejewel.
"What now?" asked Jess.
"Grooming supplies! I need my brush, and my mirror, and my eyeshadow, and everything. Gimme!" aussiejewel ran at the lock with her horn. It just hurt her head.
"What ugga ugga to do?" Alexa asked. She'd been rather quiet because of her random uggas everywhere.
"Stick to the plan," Zoe said. "We can't have a lawyer, unfortunately... who made up that dumb law?"
"Faerieland is an extremely law-abiding country," Jess mumbled distantly. "Most of the Dark Faeries aren't the world domination type at all."
"Thank you, Neopedia," was aussiejewel's sarcastic comment.
"But it's very important," Jess said.
Zoe nodded and aussiejewel grumpily sat down. "I still want my grooming supplies! Ooh... just thinking about it... lipstick and eyeshadow and hoof polish and a brush and... I want my mirror back, too!"
Alexa, who had been watching aussiejewel with interest, suddenly remembered something she had read long, long ago.
"aussiejewel," Alexa said kindly. "Ugga an idiot. Uni's horns ugga."
"What about Uni's horns?" aussiejewel asked hopefully.
"Ug magic," repeated Alexa.
"Of course!" aussiejewel celebrated awhile, then set about trying to create herself a first-class grooming kit, complete with a mirror.
"Why isn't it working?" aussiejewel asked.
"Natural ugga power is ugga weak," Alexa croaked. "It ugga create or ugga things, only changes ugga."
"Bad," aussiejewel said. She concentrated really hard for about two minutes, and then - poof! - her fur was wonderfully brushed, and hey sparkly eyeshadow applied.
"Now I want my mirror back!" aussiejewel announced crossly.
Jhudora ran along to Faerie City, with Blanche, tigger2002guy and BeatofSaint01 following close behind.
"Let us in," she commanded the guard to Faerie City... yet another Grundo.
"Can't miss," replied the Grundo Guard. "Orders."
Jhudora stared intently into the Grundo Guard's eyes, and repeated slowly, "you will let us in."
"I will let you in..." muttered the Grundo Guard obediently, and he swung open the gates for Jhudora and her three Neopet companions to enter.
"What was that?" asked Blanche.
"Hypnotism, dear. Never works on faeries though," was Jhudora's response. "Wow, I haven't been here in years."
It was still a starry night in Faerieland, but as the shops never closed down it was still easy to find your way around. Jhudora, still followed by her three Neopet companions, strode quickly up to Faerie Castle, which was guarded by (wow) a whole two Grundo Guards.
"How are we going to get in this time?" BeatofSaint01 asked. "More hypnotism?"
"No dearie," answered Jhudora. "The second one would break off hypnotic contact to the first."
"Well then," asked tigger2002guy, "how are we going to get in?"
"Leave that to me," Jhudora replied, and cast a semi-transparent green fog out of her wand. It swirled around the four of them, with a magical effect that only Jhudora knew of at that moment.
"What's this?" asked tigger2002guy.
"Shroud," answered Jhudora.
"But that's only for creatures of good faith, right?" Blanche asked - back to the worrying, you see.
"What makes you think these bozos don't have 'good faith'?"
"Nothing much," smiled Blanche.
The two girls, one Blue Uni and one glamorous Brown Uni were led out into the courtroom. Because Fyora apparently couldn't be bothered to have two separate trials, all four had to be tried at the same trial. Which wasn't actually a bad thing, come to think of it.
"What's our defence again?" aussiejewel asked.
"The Techo sold you the items, remember, and everything else just... happened," Jess reminded her.
"Oh yeah. And our witness is?"
"Fyora."
"What if we can't call up the judge after all?"
"Honestly, aussiejewel, you're turning into your sister," Jess laughed.
"Sorry, it's just... I've never been arrested before!"
Silence was called for a second later, and everyone had to stand up and sit down again for the judge herself, Queen Fyora.
"Firstly," said Queen Fyora, "we are called here today to decide the verdict and/or sentence of Miss opalgirl26, Miss diamondzoe4, Miss aussiejewel and Miss alexasparkleli, on six accounts of robbery and one account of aiding and abetting a crime, on this day of 20th Awakening, year 6."
"That doesn't sound good," Jess whispered.
"This doesn't look good, either," aussiejewel commented. "The prosecution lawyer is the same Red Techo that sold me all this!"
"What?" Zoe turned her head around to stare at the prosecution lawyer. As she'd never actually seen aussiejewel's Red Techo, she didn't know for sure... but the prosecution lawyer sure was a Red Techo, now donning a lawyer's wig and black cloak.
"Ugga awful," muttered Alexa. "The verdict's fixed ugga, I'm sure ugga!"
Jhudora and company were running up the stairs in Faerie Castle now, to the top of the tower. tigger2002guy was very good at this, but Blanche and BeatofSaint01 were very tired.
"Why are we running up these stairs anyway?" asked BeatofSaint01. "Can't we use the elevator or something? We're invisible?"
"But dearie, what if someone walks into us?" was Jhudora's response. "No, we're much safer on the stairs. Besides, I have some business I need to clear up."
"What business would that be?" asked Blanche worriedly.
"Never you mind, dear," Jhudora answered. "Not yet. Not now. Perhaps you'll work it out as we go along."
"But mum and-"
"Don't worry, we'll get to them. But it is absolutely essential that we figure out this mess first."
"Why?"
Jhudora stopped, turned and looked at her squarely in the eye. "The world goes on without your mother. But without the Faerie Queen, Faerieland could become a lawless mess. Imagine a war that could leave Faerieland in ruins... just like Maraqua."
Then she turned around again and continued up the stairs.