* Vaerianca is pronounced: Veh-ree-awn-kah
Chapter 1
Everything was perfect. At least, it was before the problem started. I had good grades, fantastic friends, and a family who loved me. But even though all of that, my little sister was my
only company at home, even though she was only four years old. While she
played with her dolls, I would watch and sit quietly, listening as she talked
about Barbies, and how to brush their “lovely” hair without making any tangles.
Okay, I know it might seem a little bit boring, but at least I have something to
do. As I got more and more alone, my so-called “friends” started avoiding me,
my grades getting lower, and my family was falling apart. I feel so alone and left out. Oh, and by the way, my name is Vaerianca
Stoner. Weird name, I know, but yeah. I’m eleven years old, just to let you know,
but I don’t have a normal life like any other eleven year old girl. So, well, this
is my story.
Chapter 2
“Miss Stoner.” I looked up to see Mr. Anderson stare at
me with his beady little eyes, “Yes?” I groaned, knowing I’d get detention for
dozing off in History.
“Go to the office, sleeping is NOT allowed in my class!” He said, banging his pen on the
table.
“Yes, Mr. Anderson,” I lazily got up from my seat, and headed for the
door, trying to keep myself awake.
“And you’ll have detention for one week, you
hear?”
“Okay,” I huffed, he glared at me through his glasses,
“Now off with
you,” I took one glance over my shoulder, and headed to the office, where my
doom began. As I walked down the hallway, towards the office, something tugged
hard on my pants.
“Ouch! Who was that?” I looked around to see anything
suspicious, but saw nothing, so I continued on my way. Just as I was about to
reach the handle of the office door, something threw itself at me, and put me
in a large, splintery sack.
“Ow! Let me go! Who are you! Let me go!” But I got no reply, soon after, two big hands, pulled
me out of the sack, and threw me in a tunnel…leading DOWN.
“Ahhh!” I cried, as I tumbled down the tunnel. As I went
down, I saw things from my past; my fifth birthday, my family, the one time
when we all went to our aunt’s house, and so on, but what the most freaky part
was, I saw flying faeries, miniature dragons breathing fire, tiny mermaids,
weird-looking gnomes, and…and, I thought I was going crazy! Time froze as I
went down, and I couldn’t stop thinking about those memories. But finally, I
reached a bottom. Dizzy and confused, I looked around me. There was grass.
PURPLE grass.
Chapter 3
Bravely, I walked along the stone path, which was
floating above the grass, and
followed it until I reached a triangle door. It was a bit small for me, but I
fit myself in. Suddenly a mouse the size of my thumb, burst out of what looked
like a kitchen door, and shouted at the top of its voice,
“SHE’S
HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and ran back to the other side of the door. I took a few
steps back, freaked out. It’s not everyday you see a mouse talk.
Then I tried
the door, it was locked shut. Then, to my surprise, a swarm of little faeries
came out of the windows, doors, anything that they could fit into, and dragged
me toward a small hole in the ground.
“What are you doing?!?” I cried, as they
pushed me toward the hole, “I can’t fit in there!” THUMP. Well, I guess could
With darkness surrounding me, I couldn’t see anything. “Hello? I said, “Can
somebody help me?” I was actually very scared, almost too scared to realize
there was another door at the end of the hole.
“Doors, doors, doors, what next,
cupboards?” Then, to my surprise, as
I opened the door, there was a
trillion cupboards, all of them leaning toward the biggest cupboard, which
was located smack in the middle of the wall.
“Oh my goodness,” I whispered, staring at
the patterns on the lock of the biggest cupboard, “This is unbelievable,” I murmured gazing hopelessly at the lock, thinking of anyway to open it, “I’ll never open it,”
Embarrassed, I
wiped the drool hanging from my open mouth. In awe, I touched it. It was made
out of silver metal.
“Actually, you’re the ONLY one who can open it,”
I froze
in my tracks.” W-who are y-you?” I stuttered, afraid to say anything else. I
closed my eyes, and turned around. I half expected a
hairy, monstrous, ugly creature. But as I looked behind me, all I saw was a
kind-looking, friendly-acting, small bumpy old man. v“Hello, my name is Creetaupolis.
Haven’t you heard of me?” Then he jumped out of his seat, and began dancing and
singing about,
"I’m the fellow, who
likes yellow, alot,alot,
sometimes wears pigtails, tell big tales, alot,alot,
I fish mermaids every Sunday, Oh my! Oh hey!
It’s beautiful day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I finally unplugged my ears, suddenly afraid that
he was going to sing again.
“Are you done?” I said, not the least afraid of him
now.
“Why, yes, yes, I am,”
He muttered, talking to himself, “ I've found her! I've found her!”
He grinned, “This is fantastic!” Then he
shuffled about.
“Uh, hello? I’m right over here” I said. This is a strange man.
He stopped and turned
around to face me, “Oh yes! I just wanted to say that you are right now in the
world of Elahypore.”
Chapter 4
I thought it over. In geography class, there wasn't any Elahypore on the map.
“What do you mean, ‘I’m the one’?” I demanded, and in one
breath, I rushed all my questions out,
“What going on? There’s no such thing as Elahypore! Not that I've ever heard of! What is this place? Who are you? What are
you? Why have you come to me? Where am I?” I took a big breath and started to
ask again, but before I had even started my first question, Creetaupolis
replied unnaturally fast, “Elahepore. Creetaupolis. A gnome. Because you are
the only one who can free Elahepore from the darkness. In the cave of the
visitors.” He then gave me a big, proud smile, the one dads usually did when
their child was good, "Now all you have to do now is follow me. Use your fire powers!” Then he swept out of
the darkness. I looked around. What did he mean about using my powers? How am I
supposed to get out of here? Use my powers. Okay, I can do that. Now, how? Oh.
I finally realized that I was standing in a cave made out of wood. Fire. Nice
to know. Wait. Why did he say fire? Awesome! I
have fire powers! I can burn my way out! I concentrated on
my powers, trying to find the source of my power. I at last realized that my
power came from my heart! So I focused really hard on the walls of the cave,
and held out my hands. A spark of fire burst out from each tip of my nail. I
focused even harder, and at last received a whole hand of brilliant, shining,
hot fire. I threw the fire ball at my right wall, and it tumbled open. I was
standing in a forest and the trees were burning, scenting like pine trees. I
noticed, (unusually), that there was a piece of glass on the grass floor. I
picked it up and stared at my reflection. I had changed completely. My hair was now
burning red fire, my clothes dark pink flames, and my boots bright orange,
coated with little sparks, and it suddenly reminded me of angry fire.
Chapter 5
I walked toward a small cottage in the middle of the
field. Afraid of myself and of my power of fire, I inched toward the front
door. I didn't want to burn the cottage down! Of course not! So I was extra
careful not to think about fire. I reached the cottage, and knocked on the
door. RAP, RAP, RAP! I waited
patiently for about five minutes, and to my relief the front door finally
opened, and there stood the tiny little mouse that I saw earlier today.
"Who are
you?” squeaked the mouse, “Why have you come here in this deserted place?” I
was drained to reply the question, and just trudged in. “Hey! Wait a minute
here! I didn't allow you to come right in! I-” She stopped dead in her tracks, then she leaned to sniff me, “Oh, my
majesty! I didn't know you’d come! I thought that you were somewhere else! I
thought-”
“Shush,” I groaned, “I want to sleep,”
The mouse said, “Well, I’m
Helen la Rose! I hope you enjoy your stay here! I thought it would….” I didn't wait to hear the rest, as I was already tired, and slumped to the ground,
sleeping soundly.
Chapter 6
“Wake up! Pssst! Wake up!” I rose uncertainly, expecting
the tiny mouse called Helen la rose. But all I saw was a large dragon, twice
the size of myself loom before me,
“Who are you?” I groaned, “Leave me alone,” I
slumped down again. Wait, did I just see a dragon and say, ‘Leave me alone’? I
hopped out of the pile of hay, (that I was apparently sleeping on), and
screamed.
“Ouch! That hurts my ears you know!” said the dragon, “Hi, name’s
Calaedia, how you doin’?” She blew casually at her nails, as if nothing just
happened. “Hop on my back! Let’s go to The Great Palace”
“Why?” I asked, eager
to know, now that I knew that this dragon wasn’t very dangerous, although she
could’ve burned me to ash in my sleep.
“To meet your real mother, the queen,” Soon
after, I fainted.
Later on…
SPLASH! A wave of cold, icy water washed over me, and I
woke up in a start. “Hey! I’m right here! Can’t you see me?!?” I spit out water
from my mouth.
“Yes, yes, we can see you, darling,” A female voice said softly,
in my water filled ears. “Happy Birthday.” I jumped up, “What! It isn’t my
birthday today!” I shouted, suddenly very angry, “What are you talking about?!?
My birthday was two months ago!” I stomped my foot like a little bratty child. The
woman spoke again, “I will explain. I am Florenza Teresa Swans, and you
were supposed to be Vaerianca Kalico Swan, the heir to this throne. And I am
your mother.” She took a deep breath, and started talking.
Chapter 7
“You were just teensy, weensy, little baby when I took
you from the hospital of Elahypore You were so funny, but careless, too. You
kept on throwing fire balls at our people, and many had been injured or burned.
So the Higher Council demanded that I should banish you from Elahypore forever.
Of course, I couldn’t allow that, so I changed the sentence. I said that you
would be given a chance and be given to a proper family, and come back a decade after. We didn't give any information about you when we left you to the
family of the….Stoners, yes? And we surely didn’t tell them your power of fire.
And for ten years, I have lived without you, and that had made me very heart-broken.
But now that you are back, we need you, my child, so you can break open the
lock on the hundredth cupboard. That cupboard holds the truth of how Elahypore became of, and the power of shapeshifting, the power that the Higher Council
banished centuries ago, but now they regret. It also holds the power to cure
the great plague right now that is killing many of our folk. So we need you,
for you are the only one who can save us all. The prophecy was right; The daughter of the queen must accomplish
this quest, and that is what I also believe. You are the one. Make me
proud!” My mother finished, letting out a big sigh, “If only you’d believe me,”
she said, sighing again. “I hope you do,” She suddenly made big eyes, “You don’t
have to go, I mean, I really want you to be here with me, I can talk to the
Higher Council-”
I cut her off quickly, “Where do I begin?”
Chapter 8
The
first cupboard to the left. I thought, I can do that. I reached the cave of the
visitors, and looked for the number 1.
“Aha!” I found it. I took a big breath.
This is it, I can do this. I squeezed my eyes shut. This is for my family. I opened it and crawled inside. SWISH. I found myself standing in the
freezing cold. Snow drifted on my head. Oh
my god. In one second, I was standing in a warm cave, and the next thing I
knew, it was winter. The wind howled in the night, and I felt something hot on
me. Whoa. I was dressed head-to-toe in FIRE!
“Amazing,”, I whispered, as I
trudged in the snow, I thought of the advice my real mother gave to me before I
left; Only you can accomplish this task,
because you have the power of fire. No one else can resist the cold in the
first cupboard. Be careful. Search for a key. I searched high and low until
I found a damp cave. Excited, I reached inside, and found three taipans inside.
Oh. How nice. As I looked around them, I saw a tiny key the size of my pinky on
a wood stump behind them. The taipans were guarding them. Here goes nothing, I thought, and blasted the snakes with my fire
power. They were killed instantly, but as I ran to grab the key, they started
to reform slowly, one by one. Oh god.
I ran till my legs hurt, out of the cupboard. I huffed, and puffed. Taipans
were the most dangerous snakes in the world! I was lucky enough to even get
past them. I reached the second cupboard. Saying my prayers, I went in.
Chapter 9
It was warm, and I found myself sitting crossed-legged on
the sandy beach. I smelled something. It smelled awful and I suddenly found
myself wanting to sleep. Wait. Wake up! I told myself, for I noticed there was
a pirate ship sailing toward me, the pirates inside ready for battle, swords
raised.
“Eeeek!” I squeaked, awfully scared. I then jumped behind a thorn bush.
Ouch, oh well. It’s better than getting sliced to pieces, I guess. I watched
carefully as the ship grew closer, and closer. As I watched closely, there were
several things in the ship:
-A Captain -30, or so Pirates -A Treasure Chest with a Key in the Middle -A Large Pearl on the front of
the ship -A
Mermaid struggling to escape -A carcass of an Octopus -Something
wiggling on a Pirate’s hand
Wait a moment. Did I just see a key on a treasure chest?
Apparently I just did. SIZZLE. NO.
No, no, no! My fire power burned out! Now I don’t have anything to defend
myself! Ugh. Just great. The pirate
ship abruptly stopped. The Captain shouted something I couldn’t hear, and then
all the pirates unloaded the treasure chest from the ship, and they all
stopped. The Captain cried out, “Ay! My mate! Where are you! We just wanted to
say hello! Come out, come out wherever you are! Don’t make this hard on
yourself!” When I didn’t respond, he growled something to a pirate, and the
pirate took out a sheet of paper, and wrote something on it. He then threw it
on the sandy beach, and backed away. The Captain called out, “We will come back
later! Make your choice!” When he finally sailed away, I crawled out of my
hiding place. Grabbing the piece of paper, I read aloud what was written on the
parchment:
Your choice: Come out, and get your little key, or don’t
come out,
and get captured anyway.
Wow, so tempting. I crumpled the parchment in my hand and
threw it away. All I needed to do was already all planned out in my head.
Chapter 10
It was night went the pirates came. I hid behind the same
bush as yesterday, and awaited them. The Captain called out, “Where are you?” I
took a step forward, “Here I am.” The Captain grinned. His teeth were all
black, yellow, or gray. “My, my, my, look how plump you are,” And before he
could say anything else, I shot forward and grabbed the key from the treasure
chest.
“Aye! Grab her!” He roared, while polishing his knife, “Get that
GIRL!!!!!!” I raced toward the cupboard door, and threw myself inside. I rolled
on the floor, got up, and slammed the second cupboard shut. Huffing and
puffing, I took a five minute break before going in the third cupboard. For
each cupboard, it got harder and harder.
Chapter 11
It took me such a long time to go through all the ninety-nine cupboards, and grab all the ninety-nine keys to open the
hundredth cupboard. Wet and tired, I fitted all the ninety-nine keys in the
hundredth cupboard, and twisted them all around. CLICK. The hundredth cupboard opened. Inside was a small paper.
“What?!?”
I cried out, “All this for a piece of paper?!?” Frustrated, I opened the paper
up. Light came out of the paper and shone on my face. I soon felt all the
happiness in the world. I was no longer wet and tired, and soon felt a new
power enter me; the power of shapeshifting. I also felt new knowledge enter me,
too. The knowledge of the truth of how Elahypore became of, and the power to
cure the great plague. I came out of the cave, rode on Calaidia the dragon, and
told the queen, all that I had learned. She gave me a big, proud
smile, and said, “I knew you would be the one.” Then gave me a large kiss on
the forehead. I asked why and who were the people who put me in a sack, and who
was Creetaupolis. She just replied, “Your time guardians,” and kissed me on the
cheek. “I don’t want to go, mother,” I whimpered, as I felt more comfortable
with her than anybody else, for she was with me the whole time I suffered
during the hundred cupboards mission.
“I know, my sweetie, but you have to go
to your family, they will worry,” I smiled and cried at the same time. “Good-bye,
mom, I’ll visit soon,” I said, and she let me go unwillingly. Time unfroze
again, and I was standing in front of the office door. I smiled confidently,
and went inside. If I can fight the most poisonous snakes on the face of the
earth, I can surely go through detention. So I went in.
The
End.
