The Puzzle Hunters Club and the Missing Valentine

     Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a neomail pop-up on her computer. She put her tools down and slid her chair from her work table to her desk, clicking on the notification. There was no subject on the neomail, and the sender was listed as no-reply-iykyk. That wasn't a thing, was it? The body of the neomail simply said, "Check the mail." While she wasn't necessarily the best with computers - she'd rather work with her hands any day - she knew this was probably spam. However, her curiosity was piqued.

     Birdie jumped up from her chair, heading to the mail room. When she opened the door, though, she almost smacked right into Max Torra, a Rainbow Kougra who happened to be one of her best friends. He immediately started signing quickly. Did you get a weird email that said to check the mail? It seemed suspicious to me, but Maeve got one, too! He gestured behind him, where Maeve Slade lingered. She was a small, Darigan Kacheek who was typing furiously on her phone.

     "Okay, let's go see what it is," said Birdie. Together, the three of them created the Puzzle Hunters Club, and she knew what they were all thinking - maybe this was a puzzle that needed to be solved.

     As soon as they entered the mail room, the Grundo mailman immediately launched into a story. “It was just here! I have no idea where it was from, but it was listed as DO NOT OPEN in huge letters. I- I- I-” He stammered, but Birdie put her hand on his shoulder to quiet him.

     “Thank you, Joe. We’ve got this,” she said to him.

     “How did you know it was for you? How did you know it was here?” He asked, confused by them showing up.

     “We got a neomail,” said Maeve. She was standing on her tiptoes to see the box that Max had taken from Joe. It was small and rectangular, and it had big bold letters written on it. PUZZLE HUNTERS CLUB it read. “Well, guess that’s us. Open it, Max!” she said to him.

     Max slowly opened the box, and inside was a small, cylindrical tube. Its body was made of metal, and it had five rotating rings with letters wrapped around the center. Max began to twist the numbers, and as he did so, they made a clicking noise. He went to shake it, but Birdie reached out to stop him.

     I think it’s a cryptex, Max, she signed. She carefully took the object from him and began to twist all of the rings, and they all clicked loudly. She handed it back to Max and took the box from him, looking inside. “There should be some kind of clue to know what letters to put in or word to spell. If we put in the wrong word, liquid will flood the chamber, and whatever’s inside will be gone!”

     “A puzzle for us…” said Maeve, who had gotten her phone back out and was furiously typing. “There are 26 options on each ring, and there are 5 rings. That’s almost 12 million options! I wonder what could be inside for us?” She put her phone in her pocket and carefully grabbed the cryptex from Max.

     “Ah ha!” Birdie shouted. She pulled a small, rolled piece of paper from the top of the box. It was tied with a small piece of twine. “Someone really worked hard on this,” she said as she pulled the twine. The little piece of paper opened, and there were words handwritten on one side. Maeve put the cryptex back in the box and signed the words to Max as Birdie read aloud.

     “ME!” Birdie and Maeve jumped at the loud exclamation from Joe, who had been watching and listening as the Puzzle Hunters opened the box. “Why are you supposed to start with me?” He asked. He put his head in his hands, shaking his head. “I just want to finish passing out the hearts I cut out every year for the mailboxes-”

     “That’s it! Joe, the paper hearts. You cut these out every year, right? I still have my stack on my desk!” Birdie ran over to the stack of paper hearts that Joe had clearly been working on before they had arrived.

     “Yes, I cut them out every year. I never want anyone to feel left out, so I make sure everyone receives a heart…” He trailed off.

     “That is so sweet. Thanks, Joe. So… Is it that simple? We need 5 letters, and he’s cutting out paper…”

     Max smiled and signed, H-E-A-R-T

     “Heart! That has to be it!” Maeve said. She grabbed the cryptex and began to twist the rings. They clicked and clicked until she had them lined up in order: H, E, A, R, and T. They all huddled around - even Joe - waiting for something to happen. “Did I do something wrong?” Maeve asked.

     “Let me try something,” said Birdie. She grabbed the cryptex and slowly turned it in all directions. “Oh, what’s this…?” But before she could finish her question, she pushed a button and there was a puff of air as the right side of the cryptex popped open. “Yes! We did it!” When she tipped the cryptex, a key fell out.

     “A key! I wonder what that opens,” Joe asked.

     “Joe, I think it’s a key to one of the mailboxes in here!” Maeve said! She pulled her own set of keys from her pocket. There was a small key on the ring, the same size as the mysterious cryptex key. “This is my mailbox key, box 2187. Is there any kind of special mailbox?!”

     They each ran over to the wall of mailboxes, until Max slapped the wall over a box in question. 2-1-4, Valentine’s Day! He signed. “Yes, Max, great work!” Birdie said. She put the key in the box and turned, hearing the lock give way. She opened it, and inside was a small datapad. There was a small “on” button, and when she pressed it, a sweet little tune started playing.

     “Okay, that is pretty cute and kind of annoying,” Maeve muttered, leaning in. Max’s eyes widened as a line of text started to appear, and he signed quickly, Our next clue!

     Birdie read aloud, “The missing Valentine must be returned. Find the Yellow Chia in Neopia Central.” They all looked at each other, racking their brains on where they’d seen a Yellow Chia before.

     “At least it told you where to go next!” Joe said, then he sat down and started cutting his paper hearts again.

     Maeve grinned, already pulling out her phone. “Neopia Central it is. Guess the Puzzle Hunters just got their next assignment.” Max nodded firmly and signed, Let’s go reunite true love.

     They quickly made their way to the hangar bay and loaded up into a ship, the captain an old friend who had taken them on many assignments in the past. As they flew down to Neopia and towards Neopia Central, they all huddled around the datapad, watching the text move across teh screen over and over again. “Who do you think would do this? Why not deliver it themselves?” Maeve asked Birdie.

     “I’m not sure. Maybe they’re afraid? Perhaps there’s some history here that we may discover,” Birdie said.

     “But at least they’re fans of us,” Maeve said, grinning.

     I’m excited to meet these fans, Max signed. “Me too,” replied Maeve.

     Soon they were walking through Neopia Central together, looking around for a Yellow Chia. They passed the General Store and the Book Shop, and they made a quick pit stop at the Food Shop for a fuel up. As they were walking out, Max signed, Would it be too obvious to check the Post Office for a missing Valentine? They all looked at each other and smiled. “Why didn’t we think of that sooner?” Maeve asked.

     They hurried into the Post Office and were greeted enthusiastically by an older Yellow Chia, holding up stamps for a customer. When he saw them, he gasped. “I’ve been waiting for you! A young Korbat stopped by earlier this week. He wanted me to give this to you,” he said. “Please excuse me,” he said to the customer he was helping. He turned around and pulled a package from the shelf behind him and handed it to Birdie. “You guys are in for a treat,” he said, and he went back to helping his customer.

     They stepped back outside and settled down under some trees next to the Collectable Coins store, excited to see what they were in for. Birdie carefully opened the box, and inside were hundreds of tiny slips of paper, all folded up. There were so many, it almost resembled confetti. “What… What are those?” Maeve asked. She picked one up and opened it. “There are words on here! It… Oh my Fyora, no way one Neopian loves another this much.”

     “What?! What do you mean?” Birdie asked, leaning over to read over Maeve’s shoulder.

     Max signed it. Reason 15: Your wings dazzle in the light of the sun.

     Birdie pulled out another sheet of paper and read, “Reason 187: Eyes. Need I say more?”

     “Okay, how many of these are in here?” Maeve asked, picking up a handful of the paper slips.

     They started counting slips of paper, but by number 150 they stopped reading the sappy love notes on each of them. This is dedication to the max, Max signed. “I can’t handle how sticky sweet it is,” Maeve said.

     “Two hundred and twelve, two hundred and thirteen, two hundred and fourteen!” Birdie suddenly slapped her face with her palm. “We should’ve known! 2-1-4 again,” she said. They all grabbed the papers and put them back in the box. “So, uh… Now what?” Birdie asked. They’d followed the clues to find the missing Valentine, but they had no idea where to deliver it.

     “Um, excuse me?” They turned to find a Pink Korbat holding a sheet of paper, staring at them with stars in her eyes. “Are you the Puzzle Hunters club?” She asked.

     “We are!” Birdie said.

     “Oh my Fyora, I can’t believe it. The map led me to you!” She quickly turned the piece of paper in her hand to face them, and saw that it read, “A Map for My Love to Something She Loves.” She folded it up and put it in her pocket. “My fiance knows I love puzzles, and I love to listen to your show on Virtupets radio every month! I look forward to it so much.”

     “So the map led you to us, and I believe we have something for you!” Maeve said, handing over the box of love notes. “I recommend reading in chunks - it’s a lot of love to consume at one time,” she said. Max sniggered, but the Korbat wasn’t even listening anymore. She had already sat down and opened the box, picking up each piece of paper one by one and reading them. Tears began to form in her eyes. “This is the best Valentine’s Day ever. My fiance is in Altador, helping to fight the Grey that’s taken over Neopia. I can’t believe he was able to make this happen.”

     “We’re so honored to be part of your special day,” Birdie said, patting her on the back. “We’ll leave you with your love notes.”

     As they started walking away, a Blue Korbat came running out from behind the Post Office, smiling and yelling incomprehensible words. The Pink Korbat jumped up with surprise, and they embraced, tears streaming down both of their faces. Max, Birdie, and Maeve smiled at one another, patting each other on the back.

     “Another mystery solved by the Puzzle Hunters Club,” Birdie said, and they started walking back towards the ship to head home.

     The End.