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Mystery of the Neolodge: Part Three


by playmobil_is_my_life

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After their bit of relaxation in the pool, TigerWing and Cali went to the third floor to get dried off and make plans for dinner. When they reached their floor, Jack Kenton raced by them, swinging his briefcase and muttering a quick hello. TigerWing noticed that he dropped something as he hurried down the stairs. It was an old Neopian Times article… it must have fallen out of his briefcase. TigerWing picked it up and stood at the top of the stairs, calling down to him,

     “Ja-ack, wait!” The business Eyrie didn’t seem to notice. He was rushing again in his usual manner, weaving through groups of Neopets.

     “Maybe he was late again,” said Cali. “What is it?”

     “It’s just an old Neopian Times article. I don’t see why anyone would want this…” TigerWing flipped it over and the headline caught her attention. She read it to Cali,

NEOLODGE HAS A RICH SECRET!!

Recently in the Neolodge, located in Neopia Central, a very big secret was revealed. The deceased founder, Mr. Martin Hughes the yellow Chia, left a very special object in his beloved building: his Storm Amulet. His friend claims that he left it there to leave a little part of him behind when he passed away one day. Soon, the word got out to the staff of the Neolodge. One of the staff members spilled Mr. Hughes’s big secret. The Storm Amulet remains hidden in the Neolodge; no one has been able to find it. Mr. Hughes was not worried when he found out that his staff members knew. Not because they were untrustworthy but because he was confident in the amulet’s hiding place. Mr. Hughes stated, at one time, that even though the Storm Amulet was well hidden, he felt it was never out of his sight. It remains undiscovered at this time.

     “I wonder if there was anymore in this article,” TigerWing mused, “Look, the rest has been cut off!” She touched the torn newspaper with her wing.

     “Wow! A Storm Amulet!” said Cali. “How much is that worth?”

     “I have a feeling that it’s worth a lot,” said TigerWing. “Around 5 million Neopoints, I think. Come on, we have to show this to Wiseguy and Tweetie!”

     Moments later, Wiseguy looked over the article clipping. His eyes grew wide when he read that the Storm Amulet was hidden in this very building.

     “How many Neopets know that the Storm Amulet is hidden here?” Tweetie asked. “Everyone?”

     “Probably not everyone, but enough because it was in the Neopian Times,” Wiseguy told him. He turned to TigerWing and Cali, “But the question is: who’s after it?”

     “What?” Cali asked. “What do you mean?”

     “I bet someone’s looking for it,” he waved the newspaper clipping in his paw. “This article isn’t very old, because if it was, Mr. Hughes’s amulet would have been found by now. Do you think we should search for it, too?”

     “Hmm,” TigerWing mused, “maybe we shouldn’t necessarily search for the Storm Amulet, but for the Neopet who wants to steal it. C’mon, let’s go to the Pizzaroo and get some dinner and we can discuss it there. We should get away from all of these other Neopets who could be eavesdropping. The Pizzaroo sounds safer.”

***

The Pizzaroo was a nice little pizza place located among the Main Shops of Neopia Central. It was oval and painted red, with a pizza-like roof and a green Blumaroo who owned it. It was the perfect setting for a few Neopets to run over their theories… not too crowded and relatively quiet. The minute TigerWing, Wiseguy, Cali and Tweetie sat down at a table, they launched into theories about the Storm Amulet,

     “Maybe the founder hid it on the top floor, hardly anyone goes up there…”

     “Don’t be silly, that would be too obvious.”

     “Or maybe,” TigerWing said, “maybe that whole story isn’t even true. Maybe it was just a rumor.” Her siblings stared at her in shock. She sank lower in her chair, “Or maybe not…”

     “I bet he hid it on top of that waterfall in the pool,” Tweetie said.

     No, because Neopets that can fly would fly up there and see it.”

     The noise started again. Wiseguy shushed them many times, saying that they were drawing too much attention to themselves. It was true; other Neopets were starting to stare.

     “Shh!” Wiseguy waved his paws frantically trying to get his sibling’s talking to cease. “Not so loud or all of Neopia will be after it!”

     “Don’t you think everyone read the headline? ‘Neologde has a rich secret’?” TigerWing quoted.

     “Maybe only a few copies were printed,” said Cali, “Besides, if everyone had read about, not all of them would want to steal it. Only some mean, greedy, cheating…”

     “Cheating!” yelled Tweetie, only to get a glare from Wiseguy. He dropped his voice, “That’s it! Cheat! Spectre! What if he’s after the Storm Amulet?”

     “Spectre?” echoed TigerWing, “I don’t think so.”

     Tweetie looked put out, “Why not?”

     “Well…” TigerWing saw Tweetie’s head bow, “it’s just that… he has everything he could possibly want.”

     “But an amulet worth 5 million Neopoints could really add to his pile, don’t you think?”

     TigerWing looked at Wiseguy skeptically, “Well…maybe,” she said after a short pause. “I guess anyone could be a suspect.”

     A few seconds later they had to stop talking because their pizza was ready. A red Kyrii brought it on a tin tray. She had on an overdose of make-up and a long mane of red shiny hair. She smiled in what seemed like a sassy way before retreating to another table. TigerWing looked back at her, feeling as though she had seen her somewhere before. The Kyrii turned back to their table and opened her mouth, maybe to say something friendly, but decided not to. Raising a penciled eyebrow, she shuffled away.

     Oblivious to the Kyrii’s strange behavior, the four Neopets cut into the Megapepper Pizza. TigerWing took a bite and savored the taste of the delicious food before swallowing. The pizza had pepperoni and green peppers, plus a secret spice in the crust. It was simply delicious. As TigerWing got down to the crust, she burnt her tongue because of the spiciness of the secret gelupepper ingredient.

     Cali was thinking to herself out loud, “Maybe Spectre is after that amulet. I bet anyone would like to have something that valuable, no matter how many Neopoints they have.”

     Wiseguy dropped his voice to a whisper, “Wait, wait, wait, before we jump to any conclusions, we don’t even know if the Storm Amulet is really hidden in the Neolodge... like TigerWing said. Maybe it was all a fake. Or maybe someone found it all ready. We don’t know how well it’s hidden.”

     “Oh, I bet it’s hidden very well,” said TigerWing, after downing a glass of ice water to soothe her burning tongue, “Something that costs that much has to be hidden some place where no one else would look… besides, it has to be there! It was in the Neopian Times--” she stopped talking because the Kyrii waitress glided back over to their table.

     “Need anything?” she asked, a bit saucily.

     Wiseguy said, “No thanks,” just as Tweetie said, “Yeah.”

     “What is it?” the Kyrii asked Tweetie.

     “Is there really a Sto—I mean something valuable hidden in the Neolodge?”

     Wiseguy and TigerWing groaned. Count on Tweetie to ask a question like that. The Kyrii’s eyes widened in surprise at the direct question. The surprise turned to sass and she said, “Why, yes, my little friend. In fact, I believe there is something. Why do you ask?”

     Wiseguy gave Tweetie a quick, sharp kick under the table to signal to be quiet and not say anything else about the amulet or the rumor.

     “We heard someone…uh, talking about it. But they’re probably crazy…” TigerWing quickly made up a story.

     “Probably…” repeated the Kyrii, but she didn’t seem convinced. “I heard you talking about Spectre.” TigerWing’s stomach jumped. She smiled innocently and waited for someone to say something else. The Kyrii did. She said, disdainfully, “Oh, I know tons about Spectre.” Before anyone could say anything else, she inhaled and said,

“He lives in a mansion made of gold in a private place that is shut off to the rest of the Neopians. He was the first Neopian millionaire. He is, perhaps, the most successful Neopet in all of Neopia, not to mention the top Cheat player and restocker. His success started when he won the Cheat Championship and was offering sacks of Neopoints for playing in tournaments. He’s been playing it professionally for nineteen years. He makes about ten thousand Neopoints a second and when he’s not playing Cheat, he’s restocking in Battle Magic or Books.” She said this all very fast, and in one breath.

     The four Neopets froze—the piece of pizza in Cali’s mouth stayed stuck between her teeth, Tweetie stopped chewing for a moment and was gazing at their waitress as if mesmerized. Wiseguy was holding a slice of Megapepper pizza in midair that never made it to his plate and TigerWing somehow forgot how to swallow the water in her beak. When someone finally said something, it was Wiseguy. He asked the Kyrii,

     “How do you know so much about Spectre?”

     “Because,” said the Kyrii, rolling her eyes, “I’m his sister.”

To be continued...

 
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Other Episodes


» Mystery of the Neolodge: Part One
» Mystery of the Neolodge: Part Two
» Mystery of the Neolodge: Part Four
» Mystery of the Neolodge: Part Five
» Mystery of the Neolodge: Part Six
» Mystery of the Neolodge: Part Seven



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