"Faerie City--where we need to go to find the Hidden
Tower--is sort of in the centre of Faerieland," I explained. "We sort of have
to leap from cloud to cloud, like we're on a bunch of tiny islands. But there's
pathways to the largest ones."
We were flying up to Faerieland on a Shoyru,
wedged behind two Neopians who didn't know we were there. Our voices were just
squeaks to them, and they didn't notice us. We had been traveling all day, and
were discussing tomorrow's plans.
"It'll be easier to find the Tower at noon, when
the sun's above us," Phoenix noted. "So we can stay up a bit longer and sleep
in."
I nodded. Between the three of us, with Elle
following along, we found the shop where Bip and I first found Phoenix and settled
there. We laughed and talked for awhile before it was completely dark, and then
we each fell asleep.
I was up latest, thinking. It was always I who
figured out where to go, or approved it. But would we ever find a place we could
stay forever? Somewhere below us, we could find a place where we were wanted,
if the Faerie Queen who inhabited the Hidden Tower would help us. Was that what
I really wanted, though? Yes, I wanted to see Bip, Phoenix, and Elle find homes.
I could handle anything that happened to me.
What would happen tomorrow? Hopefully, the luck
we kept running into would keep up. Finally, with a million questions and few
answers, I fell asleep.
In the morning, we were back where Bip, Phoenix
and I "started," but no one complained. We knew what we were looking for now.
We hopped (and in Phoenix's case, flew) from each tiny stepping-stone cloud
to the next. For awhile, we watched for the newbie faeries practice flying until
one smacked into an invisible object in mid-air and tumbled down. That was our
cue as to where the Hidden Tower was.
After a long search and many bruises, we found
the entrance and walked inside. We could see everything from the inside, and
it looked like a gallery of expensive items I'd never seen before, and my companions
had never heard about. I remembered some of the names as I walked by, since
at my old home on the Book Shop doorframe, Neopians talked about that sort of
thing non-stop.
"Should we just...go up and ask her?" Phoenix
wondered, meaning Fyora.
I nodded, walking along. I knew everyone was
thinking the same thing as me: What if she won't help us? What if we don't
find owners after all?
"Don't anyone back out now," Elle said, almost
reading my mind. "We may have come all this way for nothing, but we'll never
know until we finish what we started."
"Yep!" Bip laughed.
We found the purple-haired faerie sitting at
her desk, writing.
"Hello--Miss Fyora?" Phoenix called.
"Who's there?" The Faerie Queen stopped her work
and looked around. "You can browse if you don't have enough Neopoints, but no
touching items unless you can pay for them. Otherwise you'll be wasting your
time."
"Down here. We didn't come here to buy anything,"
Phoenix explained.
She looked down at us. "Petpets? Oh, what brings
you all the way here?"
"You're not surprised that we can talk, your
majesty?" Elle asked.
"Oh, of course not. I've been around for much
longer than you, and us Faeries know that Petpets can speak."
"That would make sense," Phoenix replied. Elle
nudged him with her tail, and he said, "I mean, your highness."
"We're looking for owners, your majesty," Elle
said. "Can you help us find some?"
She leaned over and picked us up. "I'm sorry,
little ones. I can't sell you. But--" she paused for a moment--"I'll call a
Faerie to help you." Magically, a purple cell phone appeared in her hand, and
she daintily dialed. "Yes--Embera? It's me, Fyora. Come quickly--I need you
to find homes for some Petpets." She pressed a button on the phone. "I Neocalled
a Fire Faerie friend of mine. She'll be here in a second."
Sure enough, at that instant a Fire Faerie appeared
through the doorway. "You called, Fyora?"
"Take these poor little Petpets to Neopia Central,
and put them up for adoption."
"Yes, Fyora."
Before we knew it, the four of us were gently
put into a cardboard box and taped inside with purple tape. I couldn't see anything
inside the box, but I was pretty sure that the Faerie could find us owners.
After all, she was one of the most magical creatures in Neopia.
"What is she doing?" Elle whispered in the dark.
"Probably carrying us down," Phoenix suggested.
I felt a sort of dropping sensation for a few
seconds, and then it stopped. There was a ripping sound, and sunlight poured
into the box.
"Sorry about that--had to make sure you wouldn't
fall," Embera said kindly. "Stay inside the box."
I looked up, and I saw a rainbow arched in the
sky. Were we near the rainbow pool?
Embera took out a red marker and wrote something
on a piece of paper. She taped it to the outside of the box and left the marker
beside it. "Now, stay here. Someone will come and find you." With that, she
flew off. I watched her until she was a red speck in the sky, and she was gone.
"I'm going to have a look around," I announced.
"But Embera said to stay in the box," Bip reminded
me.
"Well...I'll stay in the general area."
"But Dylan, what if someone picks us up and leaves
you behind?" Elle asked.
"I'll be fine." With that, I climbed up and over
the side of the box.
"What does the sign say?" Phoenix called from
inside the box.
I glanced at it. "How am I supposed to know?
I can't read." Then I thought for a minute. "Wait--my old owner once read a
book on the alphabet." I looked at the sign again:
Free Petpets
"'F-r-e-e P-e-t-p-e-t-s,'" I read. "Free Petpets.
All we can do now is hope someone comes for us."
"Is anyone around?" Bip called.
I looked around. "I see some people off 'a-ways,
but none here. We're at the Petpet Puddle." I climbed back in the box.
"Someone'll come, then," Elle assured us.
We waited for the rest of the day, just looking
around. A few people and Neopets went by to paint their Petpets or admire the
pictures of possible painted-Petpet combinations displayed on a wall like a
gallery. After nightfall, my friends let me get some food, and Elle insisted
that I come back immediately if she yelled because someone came that looked
like they'd adopt them. I went to Hubert's Hot Dog Stand and carried back a
burned hot dog roll that was thrown out to bring back to the others. I was getting
kind of used to this vegetarian life.
Everyone ate a piece of the roll, and we fell
asleep under the stars in our magical cardboard box. Everything would be fine,
we were safe....
In the morning, I woke up and looked around.
Surely we'd been seen!
"I'm awake, Dyl, and don't get your hopes up."
It was Phoenix. "No one yet."
"It's early," I replied eagerly. "Someone'll
come. Someone with three, maybe four pets. Wouldn't that be great if we all
got adopted together?"
"Wow, Dyl the optimist." Phoenix laughed. "You
had a rough morning yesterday. And out of all of us, you always seemed the most
serious. But we have been pretty lucky so far."
I climbed up the side of the box and looked out.
The sun was just rising in the sky, and it looked beautiful. The opposite of
the sunset I had seen right before I met Bip. I was in opposite situations,
too.
Glancing out of the box, the only Neopians I
could see out were a boy and a Blue Shoyru. In the Shoyru's hands was a Spoppy.
I shuddered. "We've all gone through some rough times. But someone will find
us."
"Let's hope so," Phoenix murmured. "Let's hope
so."
To be continued... | 
