The Case of the Missing Lupe

by fizzfangs

The Faerie Queen paced up and down the Palace corridor. "Oh no, where could he be?" she sobbed heavily. Unknown to everyone else in the Palace, the Faerie Queen's precious Lupe, Candy, had run away. She called her maid, Misty, to help her look for him. They checked everywhere, the palace gardens (was that him hidden in the roses?), every room in the Palace (that took 4 hours!). They even checked in the Adoption Centre. What if he secretly didn't like the Faerie Queen? They carried on searching deep into the night....

A week later he was still missing. The Queen ordered every Lupe in town to be checked for the collar she had put on Candy. She broadcasted a speech on live television. It went like this:

Hello, I am the Faerie Queen. If you didn't already know, my dearly loved Lupe, Candy, has gone missing. I am offering a reward of 10 million Neopoints for the kind soul who returns him safe and sound to me.

Everyone watching the broadcast gasped. 10 million Neopoints was a lot of money. They thought of all the treats and toys they could buy their pets, leapt out of their armchairs and set off to look for the missing Lupe.

Three days passed and there was still no sign of Candy. The whole of Neopia was desperate to give the Faerie Queen her Lupe back. An orphan boy who had no home or money called Niall was wandering around in the Tyrannian Plateau. He heard a deep growling sound coming from the inside of the cave and ventured inside to see what it was. He had walked about 3 metres into the cave and could not see his hand amongst the darkness. 7 metres on he heard the cry of a Lupe. "Could it be Candy?" he wondered. Although Niall didn't have a television, he had picked up an old paper that same day which had a "Lost" advert in it for Candy.

"Could anyone who has found my Lupe, Candy, return him to my Palace immediately. There is a reward of 10 million Neopoints for whoever retrieves my darling Lupe. Thank You.

Niall silently crept into the dark, overwhelming depths of the cave. The cry of the Lupe was getting louder and louder each step Niall took. Niall stood still to listen to the silence. But wait, he could hear slow, shuffling footsteps and loud groaning. The vague shape of a Lupe came into view. Quickly and cautiously, Niall rushed forward and stroked the Lupe on his neck. Niall checked the Lupe's collar. "Was it Candy?" thoughts hurried around Niall's head. Sure enough, around it's neck was the symbol and trademark of the Faerie Queen, a pearl Faerie in sapphire robes. "Are you all right?" Niall asked the shocked and injured Lupe. Niall was going to go to the Palace straight away to give the Queen back her favourite NeoPet. As Niall was turning to go out of the cave, a tall dark figure swooped in front of him. "Help me!" he screeched "Help!". It was a prehistoric creature and lurked in the cave waiting for victims to explore the cave and devoured them at first sight. This cave was called "The Lair of the Beast".

Suddenly Candy regained his strength, leapt on to the creature and knocked him out with a terrifying blow to the creatures head. In case the creature had any siblings, Niall and Candy ran as fast as their legs could carry them, out of the cave to the Tyrannian Volcano where Niall and Candy got a piece of the Giant Omelette and a drink of Melman-Mega each. Then they walked as far as they could in the direction of the Palace and when they were tired out, asked a friendly taxi driver to take them to the Palace. They were there in a flash of light and as they walked to the Queen's Palace Lupe explained why he had gone.

"The Queen is a lovely owner but she spoils me too much. I wanted to be like the other Lupe I'd seen walking by my bedroom window. They were free to do whatever they pleased whereas I had to stay in and study, just like a human child. I won't ever run away again though, I know just how dangerous it can be although I'm going to ask the Faerie Queen to build me a jungle of my own to play in and ask if I could go for a walk on my own every so often."

When they reached the castle, they pressed the bell on the golden gates and when they opened walked inside. The Palace took Niall's breath away. It was beautiful and adorned with gold and pearl roses and faeries. Candy showed Niall the way to the parlour. When they walked inside, the Faerie Queen glanced up and exclaimed, "Candy? I...Is that you?"

Candy bound over to his owner while Niall stayed in the corner, nervous and worried what the Queen would think of him. Candy whispered something in the Queen's ear and the Queen looked at Niall.

"Come here," she said in her kindest and gentlest voice. Niall cautiously walked over to the Queen and bowed.

"Where are your parents, little one?" queried the Queen.

"I'm an orphan, Miss," Niall sniffed and stared at the floor.

"Well you may live in my Palace for free. And while we're talking about money here are your 10 million Neopoints"

Niall looked up at the smiling and beautiful Queen. He smiled back and ran up to her and hugged her. "Thank you," he said with tears in his eyes.

The Queen showed him to his new bedroom and all the other rooms as well! Everyone got to know Niall in the following years as the hero who saved Candy. And when Niall was old enough he bought his own house and created his own NeoPet. I suppose you could say from when he met the Queen his life was, well, perfect....

The End