Cassie herself was desperate for a soak in the Rainbow Fountain. She had been a green Draik for long time now, over ten years. That was when she first joined Fyora’s Guard. Unfortunately, the specification had been, and still was, that only winged creatures could be on the Guard, since Faerieland until recent years had been high above the clouds. Cassie’s friend had managed to snag her a morphing potion while Cassie was still in training, and since then, she hadn’t been able to afford to change.

She checked her pocket watch, which was tucked into her uniform issued jacket. It was almost eight o’clock. Cassie cast her eyes back to Fyora’s bedroom door. This was unusual. Normally, the faerie was awake, much to all the staff member’s chagrin, at six in the morning. She would be washed, dressed and have eaten by seven at the absolute latest. Once, being a long-standing and personally trusted guard, Cassie had asked why. “You have to be prepared for every eventuality,” the Queen Faerie had said. “You never know exactly when someone might need you.”

She started to fidget. She wasn’t sure what to do. There wasn’t really a protocol for Fyora’s sleeping in, since she’d never done it before. And, if anything was wrong, surely the two personal guards who stood in Fyora’s chambers while she slept would have raised the Haunted Woods about it by now - wouldn’t they?

Cassie told herself to wait five minutes, for the clock to hit eight, before she knocked. The minutes ticked by slower than ever, and by the time the grandfather clock in the hall had struck, she was pacing. Finally, she knocked as loudly as she could.

“Queen Fyora, ma’am…” she called through the door. She put her large ear against it, but heard nothing. Not even the rustle of someone waking. She knocked again, but when no one answered, she decided to forget about protocol.

She pushed the door, which began to swing open slowly to reveal...

“Queen Fyora?” Cassie asked, stepping cautiously into the room. There was no response. Pushing the panic that was trying to rise to the surface back down into her stomach, Cassie scoured every inch of the room, even going so far as to look under the bed and in the closet. The breaches of protocol could be overlooked if the Faerie Queen really was missing. She took a deep, steadying breath and acting calmer than she felt, Cassie ordered the blue Uni by the door to find the Captain of Fyora’s guard. Perhaps sensing her unease (or maybe it was her superior rank), the Uni did as he was told without asking any questions.

Cassie went back into Fyora’s bedchamber with a stern glance at the remaining guard. Where could the Faerie Queen be? She studied the room once more, trying to find any small clue that might lead to Fyora’s whereabouts. Her eyes alighted on the mirror of the vanity table. The glass was oddly discoloured in places. Stepping closer, Cassie realised that what she had first mistaken as a trick of the light from the window was actually due to a message written on the surface. She squinted at the letters to read…

"A librarian!" Cassie exclaimed, snapping her fingers. Maybe the Library Faerie would know what it meant... or at least where to start.

Two minutes later, Tyler the Captain of Fyora's guard hurried into the room. "I was told you needed to speak to me urgently?" he asked.

"Yes," Cassie replied. "Queen Fyora is missing! I was concerned when she didn't follow her normal morning schedule so I entered her bedchamber and everything looks normal but both the Queen and her personal guards are gone." Cassie pointed to the mirror on the vanity table. "There are strange letters on her mirror and I think they might be a clue to what happened."

Tyler strode over to the mirror. "I can't make head or tail or this," he said, scratching his head. "It looks like a message but it's just too jumbled up."

"I was thinking that maybe the Library Faerie might be able to make sense of it. Plus she knows how to be discrete. The last thing we need is a panic about the Queen's whereabouts." Cassie said sombrely.

"I think you're right," Tyler replied. He turned to the blue uni by the door. "Bring the Library Fairy here. Tell her it's an urgent matter with the Queen." The blue uni saluted and took off as fast as he could. Cassie and Tyler returned to studying the letters on the mirror.

Ten minutes later, the Library Faerie arrived. "Your Majesty, what seems to be the problem?" she asked, stepping into the bedchamber. Cassie glanced at Tyler and at his nod, she quickly explained the situation.

"And there's jumbled up letters all over the mirror?" the Library Faerie said curiously.

"Yes, we were hoping you could make sense of them," Cassie replied gesturing towards the mirror.

"Hmmm let me see," the Library Faerie said walking over to the mirror. She adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose and peered at the mirror...

“If we’re going to find out what the message says we’ll have to find someone who can translate it for us,” Cassie said. “Do you know of anyone who can do that?”

The Library Faerie tilted her head and thought for a minute. "Perhaps… I know an old professor; he comes to the library every day. He might be able to help you.”

Cassie thought about this, while Tyler spoke up, “Cassie you can go see that professor, I’ll handle things here until you get back.”

“Alright,” Cassie said, she grabbed the mirror and slipped it into her shoulder bag, which she had left by the door of the bedchamber. “I won’t be gone long.” Cassie called as she left, the Library Faerie close behind her.

When Cassie and the Library Faerie approached the library, they saw an old Scorchio sitting on the library steps.

“That’s the professor,” the faerie whispered to Cassie. Louder, she said, “I’m sorry professor; I had to lock up the library on urgent business.” She slipped the key into the lock as she talked.

“Urgent business,” the professor grumbled. “You have delayed my studying by half an hour!”

“I’m sorry professor,” The Library Faerie repeated, and opened the door. Cassie followed her and the professor inside, and seeing an opportunity to speak said, “Professor, can I speak to you about something very, very important?”

“After being delayed for thirty minutes I don’t have time for chit-chat, Draik!” The professor snapped, “Now kindly leave me alone, I have a lot of reading to do.”

“You don’t understand,” Cassie tried to explain, “This concerns the queen!”

“The queen you say?” The professor suddenly seemed interested.

“Yes, can you translate this message?” Cassie handed him the mirror, then added, “For the Queen.”

“The professor seemed to read the message then he nodded.

“What does it say?” Cassie asked.

“It’s a location, it says to meet by the…..

"The Healing Springs?" she asked puzzled, alone now that the Library Faerie had gone back to her job. "Why there? Why was that on the mirror?" she asked herself, before shaking her head. She knew she had breached protocol more than once today, so she decided it wouldn't hurt to do it one more time. With that, she set off to the meeting place, and when she got there she looked to see....

"Fyora's revered crown! Why in the world would anyone do this? Take our Queen away and separate her from the crown!"

Cassie bent over to grab the crown and ran to Tyler. "Tyler...look what I found under a bush near the Healing Springs."

Tyler turned around and as his gaze fell upon the crown, all the blood drained out of his face. He was speechless.

"This means... she did not leave voluntarily."

Both Cassie and Tyler gulped. Their Queen was kidnapped.

Tyler quickly stopped her. "Cassie, relax. I can barely understand you," he said.

"But Fyora-"

"We can't find her if we aren't calm. You know this." Tyler took a deep breath. "A better question to ask is who could do this."

The Draik tilted her head. "Huh?"

"Think about it. Queen Fyora is the strongest Faerie. Not anybody can take her."

Cassie tapped her foot and flapped her wings - she did that to think. "Yeah, you're right. It'd take a lot of knowledge to kidnap her."

Tyler nodded. "Yes, someone smart."

"Someone close to Fyora."

"Someone who knows what to do."

At the very same time, Cassie and Tyler snapped. They knew who took Fyora. They both said at the same time, "The professor!"

"It adds up. That professor was such a grump. He wanted me to leave him alone!" Cassie exclaimed.

"Cassie, please calm down," Tyler repeated. "I think it's about time we talk to the professor..."

A chill ran down Cassie and Tyler's spines as the voice of the professor came from behind them. The pair slowly turned around, half expecting some new arch villain of Neopia to have revealed himself in a horrible plot to conquer the world.

Instead, he handed them a note. The Scorchio gruffed out and headed away. "And the next time you see Fyora, tell her that I'm not a delivery boy."

The two were confused, almost certain that he was going to do something horrible, but he didn't.

"What does it say?" Tyler said.

"It says, Dear Cassie." Cassie read aloud, "My apologies for leaving so suddenly, but as I said, one has to be prepared for every eventuality and you never know when someone might need you. By getting this far, you've proven yourself to be someone I can count on."

"Wait, what?" Tyler said.

"I faked this kidnapping to see just how far you would go to get to the truth. If you managed to decipher the clues left behind, then not only are you intelligent, but you also know who and where to look for to figure out difficult things. All of those are admirable qualities."

"This was a test?" Cassie said aloud, before finishing the letter.

"Have no fear, I am safe. I took a quick holiday on Mystery Island. I'll be back in two days. When I return, I think we can have a nice talk about getting you that trip to the Rainbow Fountain that you had been wanting. Take care of the crown, and apologies again for deceiving you."

"All the best, Queen Fyora."

Cassie didn't know what to think. All of that headache and heartache had been a test? She didn't know Fyora had it in her. Then again, it was all working out in the end. The queen of the faeries was safe.

"Well, I guess that's everything." Tyler said, "Wow, she really gave us a scare."

"I agree, but I guess now if the real thing happens, we'll be prepared." Cassie replied, holding onto Fyora's crown.

Meanwhile, on the beaches of Mystery Island, Fyora was sitting back in a long beach chair and watching the sunset descend beyond the horizon. She had a tropical pink drink with a tiny umbrella in one hand, and on the other petting a stray Puppyblew that had come wandering over to her as she relaxed.

"It's good to be the queen." She thought to herself.

The End.