As always, Mixie had plans to get tickets to watch every game that Kiko Lake plays in. Kiko Lake was her favorite team and she couldn't wait to watch them try to win it all for a second year in a row.

Mixie was so excited as she grabbed the latest issue of the Neopian Time and began to look through it to find the schedule.

Mixie found the page and began gazing at the schedule, but Kiko Lake was not on it at all.

"This has to be some kind of misprint," she said aloud as she reached for the phone and began to dial a familiar number.

"Hello," said a voice on the other end of the phone. "Neopian Times Headquarters, how may I help you?"

"Hi," Mixie replied. "There seems to be a misprint in your newest issue. On page 7 where you have the Altador Cup schedule posted you left Kiko Lake off of the list."

"No mistake ma'am," said the voice on the end of the phone. "Kiko Lake is not playing in this years cup..."

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" She managed to string together. She gripped the phone tighter waiting in hopes she heard wrong.

"Kiko Lake will not be playing this year," An exhausted voice replied to her question. "Will that be all, ma'am?"

Mixie blinked a few times before she gathered her emotions enough to respond "Yes. That'll be all, thank you." The small Kougra placed the phone back on the hook.

Mixie felt so confused. Why wouldn't Kiko Lake be playing this year? It just made no sense to her. They had played every other year ever since she could remember, and played a good game too! Mixie sat in thought but she just couldn't come up with any explanations.

There was only one way to get to the bottom of this... Go to Kiko Lake and find out for herself! (Plus it was no downside that she'd get to meet the team she's idolized ever since she was a little kid.) She was sure this was what she had to do. What could go wrong anyways?

"And just where do you think you're going?" Madeline was always very protective of Mixie. They only had each other to depend on throughout their entire lives.

"Uh.." Mixie stared down at the floor. She considered lying to her sister, but she knew she'd been found out if she tried that. There was only one thing she could do. She looked up to meet Madeline's eyes with a new found determination. She took a deep breath, before embarking on what she thought to be a speech of epic proportions.

"I am going to Kiko Lake! I need to get to the bottom of this catastrophe, I need to find out why Kiko Lake isn't competing this year! I know you're all about Team Moltara now, but you used to root for Kiko Lake just as hard as I do! If they didn't compete I would... well I just.. I wouldn't know what to do with myself!"

Mixie finished her rambling outburst, breathing heavily, and stared up at Madeline for her response. Madeline rolled her eyes.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you journey all the way to Kiko Lake?" She said, looking down into the eyes of her little sister.

Mixie felt her heart drop into her stomach. She felt sadness wash over her as she turned to start unpacking her things. She wanted to go more than anything, but there was no way she'd do it against her sister's orders. She heard Madeline clear her throat from the doorway.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you journey all the way to Kiko Lake, without me?"

"I was going to take you to see a practice, but it seems we may be needing to solve a mystery. Bring your comfortable shoes." The young Kougra gave her sister a strong hug and zipped up her bag. With both of them ready, the two sisters turned off the lights and headed toward the train station to get tickets to Kiko Lake. The little village itself wasn't more than half a day's walk, but the train would have them there in an hour.

With the tickets bought, and the two sisters seated near a window, Mixie turned toward her sister. "I appreciate you coming with me... I just..." She swallowed hard and turned to stare out the window. "I just really don't know what I would do if they weren't playing. There are my team..." Madeline gripped her sister's hand and nodded.

"I know Mixie, I know. We will get to the bottom of this. We should be there soon." With more small talk filling the journey, Kiko Lake appeared in the distance. Mixie had her face pressed to the glass, watching it get bigger and bigger.

The girls got off the train and starting walking down the dirt path toward the village. Before they could even get there, a sign was shoved into the ground with a cryptic message. "Kiko Lake is gone." Mixie's voice cracked as she read the message. "Gone? How can it be gone?"

"Okay, you're not going to believe this, and maybe I'm going crazy, but...it looks like the buildings in Kiko Lake have been buried."

"What?" Mixie joined her sister in the dirt, and looked where she had brushed aside the dirt. Sure enough, in the shallow ground, what looked like a single shingle from the roof of a house stared back at her.

"Well, there's only one thing to do," Madeline said, shrugging.

"What's that?"

"We're going to unbury Kiko Lake."

"If all of Kiko Lake is buried beneath this dirt," Mixie breathlessly asked as she fruitlessly continued scraping dirt away, "...how in the world are we going to dig it out ourselves?"

An assured voice answered from the tree line of the forest surrounding the former lake, "Not without the use of magic."

Madeline and Mixie were stopped in their motion and looked in the direction that the voice came from. Standing just within glimpse in the shadows of the trees was Rasala the Bright, the Bori sorceress renowned for leading the Order of the Red Erisim. Expectedly, two Red Erisims slithered in a circular motion around her in unison. She spoke gain, "Magic is the best solution to problems instated by other magic."

Stepping forward with her Erisims now faithfully at her side, her maroon and gold cloak radiated in the direct sunlight. She stooped low and touched the dirt with her free claw-- her other was holding her oakwood wand-- before announcing, "This looks like the work of the Two Rings Wizard. You can dig and dig, but still the dirt will remain."

Both sisters incredulously looked at the renowned mage in front of them, speechless. After a moment, Mixie managed to ask, "Rasala, your Highness, who is the Two Rings Wizard, and why would he have done this?"

Rasala walked over to the two sisters, who had abandoned their excavation effort and were now just sitting in the dirt. She sat down next to them and with a flick of her wand, light scattered and created the image of the blue Techo Wizard in a red robe. She narrated, "Long ago, after the days of NeoQuest, the Two Rings Wizard had to make a choice. He had to either pledge allegiance to Meridell and King Skarl's royal magocracy, or face his magic being taken away by force. Back then, you see, there wasn't an Order like my own to protect mages, witches or wizards living on the fringes of Neopia. Well, he sensibly pledged allegiance to Meridell to protect himself, but that pledge brought upon him a series of responsibilities that he was obligated to carry out."

Madeline curiously asked Rasala, "Such as...?"

Rasala inhaled and with another flick of the wand made the image of the Two Rings Wizard spring into action. "He was required to aid all forms of Meridell's representation, ranging from their army to their Altador Cup team. You see, to help the Meridellian yooyuball squad, he was coerced to...

Rasala raised her head to meet Mixie's eye, who had stood up above the mage. Rasala's face retained the same gentle control that she was noted for amongst the Order, but a twinge of shock had contaminated the very corner of her eyes. "No?" she asked.

"Mixie, please, she knows what she's talking about, will you just-"

"No," Mixie repeated, steamrolling over her sister's request. "What you are saying is completely impossible. No matter what your Two Rings Wizard was contracted to do, an act like burying Kiko Lake in dirt is too reprehensible an act for even Meridell. That's the type of thing that could get them disqualified."

"Child, you speak too soon. I am not saying that the Two Rings Wizard is responsible for this mess. But his magic is certainly involved in the matter."

"Mixie, sit down," Madeline all but hissed under her breath. Slightly embarrassed, Mixie obliged, settling back into the dirt. Rasala let out a long sigh.

"I believe that the Two Rings Wizard was coerced into committing some sort of act to enhance the yooyuball squad, yes. But I also believe that somewhere along the way, his magic was corrupted. Resulting in what you see before you. You see, he was recently commissioned by the magocracy to create a training field for Meridell, the likes of which have never been seen before. It would be enhanced by magic, creating a more of a battlefield than a playing field. It would push Meridell players to their absolute limits, so that when they approached the Altador Cup, it would seem like child's play."

"I don't mean to seem rude, Great Rasala," Madeline said with an air of respect that almost made Mixie gag, "but what does this have to do with Kiko Lake being buried?"

"Ah," she said, a twinkle in her eye. "That's where the interesting part begins."

How will this story end?

"What do you think he said," Madeline breathed, hanging onto Rasala's every word.

"I bet you," Rasala said, eyes glinting, "that he cast a spell designed to bury their competition."

Madeline's jaw dropped in disbelief. "He used an idiom!" she shouted, smacking her head. "That stupid sorcerer!"

"Exactly," Rasala said with a deep nod.

Mixie, who had been sitting to the side silent, suddenly felt a lurching feeling in her stomach, and her eyes began to water. "But that means... if he actually buried the competition... does that mean... they're all buried down there and... is the... is the team all right?"

"Oh my child," Rasala said, putting an arm on Mixie's tiny shoulder. Mixie wanted to shove her off, but she heeded her kind words. "Although the Two Rings Wizard was foolish with his words, his spell was not cast in malicious intent. I can tell from the aura of this place. No, it was a simple accident, one where everyone will be fine once we reverse the curse. This I'm sure."

Mixie wiped away a tear with the back of her paw. "Okay." Then, a little reluctantly: "Thank you."

Rasala stood up and pulled back the sleeves of her long cloak. "Don't thank me yet. We still have a spell to undo. Order! Gather round!"

At her call, Rasala and the other Erisims formed a large circle. Mixie and Madeline stood off to the side as, in unison, the wizards began to chant. Mixie couldn't tell exactly what they were saying--their words were both in Neopian and an ancient foreign tongue. But she could feel the magic at work, tugging at her heart and making her skin vibrate with power.

And then, the spell began to take hold on the dirt in front of them. First Mixie saw just a tiny speck of dirt magically levitate off the ground and rise into the sky, but soon larger clumps and rocks were soaring upwards as well, like a reverse meteor shower. In a strange way, it was beautiful.

Before Mixie knew it, the Erisims finished their chant with a loud shout, and when she looked around, all the dirt was all gone. She was now standing on the shores of the Kiko Lake she knew and loved, the water a sparkling blue. And she wasn't alone. All of the residents of Kiko Lake who had been buried were now standing on the streets, blinking their eyes in confusion.

"This is my cue to leave," Rasala said with a smile, nodding her head at Mixie and giving Madeline's hand a squeeze. Mixie was convinced her sister almost fainted.

"Oh my gosh. I am so happy I came along with you today," Madeline said, staring at her paw. "I don't think I'm ever going to wash this paw."

"That would be really gross," Mixie said, rolling her eyes. "Now come on. We saved Kiko Lake. Now we should head home."

Madeline shook her head, and then started steering her sister through the crowd. "Not yet. I got to meet my hero today. It's your turn to meet yours!"

And that was how Mixie found herself meeting the entire Kiko Lake Yooyuball team. They were just a few feet away, underneath a tall leafy tree. They were all a little disoriented from the magic, and their jerseys were covered in dirt, but that didn't matter to Mixie. She was just so excited to see them up close and in person!

The team was so kind to her. They said they loved meeting a fan, and when they found out that she had helped free them from the wizard's spell, they loaded her up with a ton of free gear. There was so much stuff that Madeline was forced to wear some of it, which made Mixie giggle.

After several hours of hanging with her favorite team, Mixie and Madeline finally boarded the train home. Mixie curled up into her new jersey and rested her head on her sister's shoulder, a huge smile on her face. And even though she was sad her adventure was over, she couldn't wait to get back home and watch the Altador Cup--now that her favorite team was back in the game. And this year, she thought as she drifted off to sleep, they're going to give Meridell a run for their money!

THE END