Secrets
By Dimgwrthien
Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Neopets or affiliates.
Author's Notes: Neopets fan fiction? Oh, no. I have writer's block and I was playing on neopets as I always do. I'm dimgwrthienmaladict, for the curious. Note, however, that I'm only fond of the Draiks and faeries. Truth is, Neopets doesn't really take my fancy. It has fun games, though.
No ill feelings ever came between the sisters, though they shared their differences. Jhudora was dark, with her charming looks as black as midnight, and Illusen was fair and light, red hair sweeping around her thin face. They shared only one common attribute between them: the green highlights in their hair. As young fairies, the two would always wonder about how that was the only thing that connected them.
Jhudora enjoyed brewing potions in the darkness of the towers, streaming high above the grounds. Illusen was rarely seen inside. However, both gave quests, though Jhudora was hard on every neopet that passed her.
Jhudora wanted the dark, powerful items that would ruin someone in the hands of a weakling. Illusen just needed help to find something. Both rewarded well, though in different ways.
Every night seemed a repeat of the last, and the grey dusk fell over them. Illusen sighed heavily and leaned up, lightly jumping from the tree she had perched herself in. It had been a while since Jhudiah the Island Faerie, left. They had the most interesting conversation about Eithne, Illusen's personal hero.
Jhudiah was her best friend except for her own sister. As far apart as they lived from each other, the two faeries had a friendship that was almost uncommonly strong. They passed messages of their next meeting through traveling Neopians, hoping for the quickest possible meeting. When they did see each other, they would spend days, maybe even a week, together, talking about everything that had happened since their last meeting, bringing up the latest news they heard from the people who went around. Jhuidah's gifts that she brought always consisted of strange mixtures from her Cooking Pot, and items she received from the Tambola Man, who seemed fond of her. Noilkeet, a small petpet that Illusen was careful to keep at her side as often as possible, had been her favorite so far. The powder blue creature with its chirping attitude followed near the tips of her wings, flapping the stubs on its back to keep in the air.
The faerie found her way home, looking rather depressed at the fact that the sun had left the sky. This would be Jhudora's favorite time of day, she reminded herself, and then cheered up as she ran the rest of the way to their home.
A green tinge filled the windows, flickering like a candle's flame. Illusen crept to the window, keeping silent, afraid of what she would find inside. It could only be Jhudora, she chided herself. Only would be there.
However, the lights made her worry. Jhudora had never worked on potions that gave off such a sinister glow.
In the reflection of an empty bottle that was near the window, close to her face, Illusen saw the lights dance off of her face. She frowned and she tried to peer through the misty fog within. Then, her expression in the bottle froze, eyes wide and shocked, mouth wide open in a silent scream.
Jhudora was there, holding a small Ixi by the scruff of its neck. Several other neopets lined the room, all chained to the walls, or locked in cold cages. The Ixi's eyes were wide with fear and Illusen could hear the pleading. The voice coming from it seemed odd, garbled through tears that llusen had only seen from those who failed quests often.
The darker sister raised her arm, carrying on it what appeared to be a long spoon with an almost clear, yet somewhat opaque liquid in it, dragging it to the Ixi's mouth -
Illusen screamed out loud, knowing what would come. Only one potion she had ever heard of was that color; it was in a book that she surprised herself in even reading, but the effects were dreadful, causing the drinker pain until death.
Jhudora looked up sharply, dropping the Ixi, which remained there, sobbing helplessly, fighting its way back onto its hooves, shying into the corner. Illusen pulled herself into the window, glaring at Jhudora through streaming tears.
"You - you -!" she managed to scream, voice going hoarse. Jhudora's hair fell into her pale face and she was snarling, teeth bared at Illusen. "How dare you? How dare you do that? You can't just -!"
Her hand was raised and Illusen felt a sharp pull in her chest. She was flung backwards, unable to stand up or fight back.
Jhudora was on her, teeth still bared in a dreadful imitation of a smile. Her eyes glowed like the potion, echoing the damaging effects that stood behind her, stood behind her expression.
"Nothing you saw happened," she whispered, voice barely humanoid. She did not look as she usually did; the anger twisted her face into a beast-like expression, wrinkling her nose, somehow aging her.
Illusen tried to yelled back, to get up and fight, but she felt another pull in her chest. She shook her head, eyes streaming in tears still. It felt as though her heart was being pulled into a thousand pieces.
Jhudora gave Illusen another glare, and then turned her back on her sister. "But to make sure…"
And she took the fallen spoon, dipping it back into the potion, forcing it into Illusen's mouth, forcing her esophagus to contract, forcing eternal pain as she knew her sister would never die.
Illusen, years later, tried to forget the memory as the young Ixi before her laid out an item she had asked for nearly an hour ago. Her time limit had been set and she hated those who never met it. She looked at the Ixi, however, and remembered the face full of so much pain as it was almost killed -
"You're on time," she forced herself to say, breaking her usual tradition for the first time ever. It felt odd, yet it did not ease the pain in her mind and heart. "Well done." She dug into her pouch and pulled out a book, handing it over. The Ixi grinned and Illusen forced another smile, faking her cheery attitude. Once he walked away, however, Illusen let her face fall.
It had been an unexpected meeting between herself and the Ixi. She usually knew when a neopet was going to come to her, hopeful for a quest, but it had been so sudden.
She folded her legs under her, hugging herself close, trying to find a comfortable position. Every moment she lived, she felt the remnants of the potion, and knew that not all of the pain had been from it….
A snarling vision of her sister came to mind and Illusen closed her eyes tightly, ridding it with darkness. When she opened them, another neopet was before her.
"Hello," she said to him. "If you fetch me some items from around Neopia, I will reward you with some of these cool things I have made over the years... aren't they pretty?" She offered him a smile and picked up her staff, holding it out to him, stopping just short of his reach, keeping all hands off of the staff that was her prize.
It felt like a release from the pain, her newly sinister voice echoing what she felt inside.