Seeing wildlife wasn't guaranteed, so Lila always appreciated the chance to show tourists local aquatic life in addition to the colorful, famed coral and seaweed gardens of the lake.

In fact, it was such a nice day, that Lila had made an executive decision to stop the boat at the mouth of a popular local cave and let the tourists out to swim. They had time to spare and the tourists had been eager for the chance to explore up close. Plus, the next tour wasn't until 11:00 am. There was plenty of time.

While Lila waited for them to return, she flipped through the latest edition of the Neopian Times. Lila was eager to finish the article, but just as she was about to flip the page, she caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye. Hmm, that was strange; she couldn't imagine what that might be. This particular part of the lake tended to be still. Not a lot of aquatic life swam out here, making it an ideal spot for locals and tourists to swim alike without disturbing the ecosystem.

Today's tour group had just finished swimming and was in the process of climbing the ladder back onto the boat. She beckoned them over and pointed towards an unidentifiable object, glowing neon green in the otherwise crystal blue waters.

"Look, here's a new one! To my right, you'll see a glowing...something. I'm not sure what it is," Lila admitted. "In all my years as a guide, I've never seen anything like that. Maybe someone lost something or littered?"

"I don't think so...it's moving!!" Linabre, a cheerful and outgoing Maraquan Jubjub exclaimed. "Maybe we should go investigate? I'm a strong swimmer and I can blend in with the coral. I'll go!"

"It's a good plan," Lila said thoughtfully. She handed Lin a diving mask before securing her own on her face. "Everyone else wait here. We'll be right back. Looks like today's tour is extra interesting, folks!"

And with that, Lila and Lin dove off the side of the boat, towards the glowing object and away from the rest of the group, only to find....

"I'm not crazy, right? That was a Glowing Lutari... right?" Linabre asked hesitantly.

"It sure seemed like it. But from what I understand, Lutari can't be painted with the Glowing Paint Brush. How is this possible?" Lila muttered, her eyes still on the faintly glowing body as it slowly moved below them.

"This could be a new discovery... the first of its kind! How exciting!" Linabre said cheerfully. "Let's catch up to him and ask him some questions!"

For a moment, Lila shared Linabre's enthusiasm; but just as quickly, she felt a pang of uncertainty. "What if the Lutari is glowing due to a chemical spill? Our waters are so healthy, but anything is possible..." She bit her lip, suddenly concerned.

Linabre shook her head. "Don't be such a worrywart. C'mon, let's catch up to him!" And with that, she pulled her mask down and dove. Lila rushed to join her.

The Lutari had circled back around and was lounging amid the corals as the two approached. When he suddenly noticed them, his eyes widened an expression of surprise on his face. Lila lifted her hand in greeting, but the Lutari swam off faster than before! Lila and Linabre exchanged a quick glance before they both rushed after the Lutari. He spun and twisted among the rocks and kelp, more agile than they expected. Just as they began to tire out, the Lutari dove into a cave.

"Cornered," thought Lila, both exhausted and annoyed. She wanted answers from this strange creature.

The two cautiously approached the mouth of the cave, only to discover...

"I've never seen anything like this before," Lila said, hesitant to approach any closer.

Lin didn't seem to share her concern, swimming onward into the cave. "Maybe this is like the Faerie Caverns, and there'll be treasure in here! Have you ever been to the Faerie Caverns? They're awesome."

Lila had not ever been to the Faerie Caverns. She had lived next to Kiko Lake for her entire life, and while the prospect of hidden glowing treasure was appealing, it didn't seem to be the most likely explanation.

"Why was the Lutari glowing, then?" She asked.

"I dunno," Lin said. "We'll just have to ask him ourselves."

It would be bad form to leave a glass-bottomed-boat customer alone in a potentially dangerous glowing underwater cave, so Lila followed Lin into the luminescent cavity. They swam through a narrow tunnel, and then upward for a ways until they surfaced into an air pocket. There, sitting by the edge of the water, was the Lutari. When he spotted the divers, his ears perked up in surprise.

"Oh!" He said, startled. "Hello!" He didn't move from where he was sitting, and Lila could now see that he was holding something cupped in his paws. Whatever he was holding was emitting the same green glow that coated the rest of the cave. That must have been why he looked like he was glowing, she thought. Up close, he seemed to be a normal Lutari.

"Whatcha got there?" Lin asked, removing her diving mask.

"Come see for yourself," The Lutari said, nodding in their direction. "Don't worry, it won't bite," he added, when Lila hesitated.

Eventually, curiosity overcame common sense, and the divers moved forward to see the Lutari was carefully cradling a tiny glowing worm. It looked like-

"A Moltaran Worm?" Lin asked. "What's that doing here? Don't they live underground? In, y'know... Moltara?"

"That's what I'm here to investigate," the Lutari said. "Let me explain..."

"The name is Chet," the Lutari began. I'm part of the Moltara Expedition Team-- the M.E.T. for short. We are a group made up of explorers from around Neopia." Chet held up the jar, inspecting the worm inside. "The Mayor has tasked us to inspect and maintain the lava tunnels that run under the city."

Lila nodded. "That all sounds very exciting, but what brings you to Kiko Lake?"

"Well you see," Chet began, "We were doing our routine inspections of the tunnels, when we noticed cracks beginning to form in the deepest part of the Moltara Caves." The Lutari furrowed his brow. "Usually cracks in the tunnel are no big deal..."

"Why were these cracks so different?" Linabre interjected.

"These cracks weren't just caused by lava flow," Chet responded, "These cracks were glowing!"

"That's very interesting, but it still doesn't explain why you're in Kiko Lake," Lila commented.

"Yes," Chet continued, "Upon the discovery of these cracks, we immediately informed the Mayor. He arranged us a meeting with Igneot to seek out his advice..."

Chet nodded as he understood the importance of not leaving a group unattended for too long.

“Of course” Chet began. “Let’s get you both back to your group. I can explain more as we swim.”

The three acquaintances began to swim back towards the boat as Lin chimed in.

“So when you sought out Igneot, what did he have to say?” she asked. “I’ve heard that Gnorbu knows more than almost anyone in Neopia.”

“That he does,” Chet began. “It startled me a little when I met with him because as I knocked, I heard him say ‘Please don’t let it be another one!’ He opened the door and he seemed relieved. When I asked what he meant, he said that there were several ‘visitors’ that kept coming to him seeking out an old Moltaran legend that goes back many years.”

Lila was engaged. “Would that legend have something to do with the glowing cracks?”

Chet nodded. “I was in an awkward place because I was there to talk about the cracks as well but I hadn’t known at the time that the myths and the glowing cracks were related. I told Igneot that it was urgent and I had been sent by the Mayor to find out the root cause…”

“Um…guys?” Lin had said as she pointed to the glass bottom boat. “Where are the rest of the boat passengers?”

Lila and Chet both looked up as they saw the empty boat. Then Lin pointed ahead of them as they saw something that made all three of them speechless…

"You guys see that too right?" Lin murmured. Lila stared and didn't respond. From her other side, Chet sighed.

"We better hurry," he stated as he picked up his pace. The others trailed behind him slightly. The passengers parted when they recognized Lila and exchanged looks of confusion when they saw Chet. Lin watched their eyes dart back and forth between the now sobbing Glowing Ruki and him.

"I just tried to paint myself Faerie!" the Ruki wailed, tears streaming down her face. "How is this even possible?"

A small movement near her foot caught Chet's attention and he lunged at it. The Ruki whirled around angrily but Lila merely held up a hand calmly.

"As you all can tell, there are some unusual things going on. We will figure it out. And we will get you back to your proper color." she added quickly, eyeing the distraught Ruki who let out a loud sniffle but was pacified. "This is Chet, and he will try to explain what is going on."

The Glowing Lutari stepped forward. "Hi everyone, I am Chet, a member of the Moltara Expedition Team. I am here on a mission from the Mayor. As you can see, I am Glowing, a colour that should not be possible. That is because of this Moltaran Worm." He held up his hand and a small green worm inched around. The passengers gasped and small exclamations of disbelief could be heard.

"I caught this just now next to her foot." he gestured at the Ruki who was glowing the same shade of green as the worm and himself. "My theory is whatever the worm touches will end up the same colour." He pointed at a thin glowing path on the ground, easily overlooked if you were not specifically trying to find it. The crowd immediately took two large steps back from it.

"But why is the Moltaran Worm here, all the way in Kiko Lake?" someone blurted.

"That is what I am investigating. In Moltara-" Chet barely started his explanation when his voice was drowned out by the deafening sound of rocks colliding and falling. The passengers dove for cover. After what seemed like minutes, the air grew quiet and the dust settled. Lila carefully peeked out from behind the tree she had taken cover behind and gasped, eyes widening. Part of the rock wall a few meters away had crumbled, exposing a cave with a similarly eerie glow. However, instead of the usual greenish tinge, this cave radiated a bright pink glow...

"No, no, no, no! I'm not supposed to be PINK!" he wailed.

Chet shouted for everyone to step back, but they seemed hypnotized by the pink glow emanating from their once-green little friend. Chet dashed in front of the crowd, motioning for them to give him some space. A Spotted Lupe stepped backwards, nearly stepping on a small pink worm beneath her large paw. Chet grabbed the worm, clasping it in his paw along with the green one he held previously.

As if the crowd hadn't been shocked enough, what they saw next was truly amazing. They wouldn't have believed it unless they saw it with their own eyes. As Chet held the pink worm, a burst of pink sparkles flew outward and swirled around and around, then joined by green sparkles that swirled in a radiant vortex of colour. When the sparkles settled, they revealed Chet, who was now a Pink and Green Glowing Lutari! The colours melded together in a marble-like pattern from head to toe.

"Huh. Haven't seen this before." Chet remarked as he admired his new colouration. The little worms seemed to wriggle with delight at their mischief. The pink worm hopped up and down, pointing itself towards the glowing cave... "Well, I guess we better go in there, eh, Little One?" Chet asked the pink worm, who nodded enthusiastically.

"So, who's with me?" Chet asked the group, who were all still staring like deer caught in the headlights, mouths agape.

“Alright, everyone!” Lila bubbled, turning towards the small crowd that had grown by a Green Glowing Ruki and a Pink Glowing Shoyru. “This is a tour after all, but I want to make sure everyone feels safe and heard. This is unprecedented and, while I know you signed your liability release waivers, I want to get your verbal confirmation. If you’re not comfortable in these uncharted territories, please feel free to remain safely on the beach and enjoy the sun. However, if you’re up for an adventure, follow along.”

The excitement grew in the tour group as they looked amongst themselves and began to whisper.

“This is SO cool!” an adolescent Yellow Tuskaninny said to his mom.

“Say, ‘yes’ to join and ‘no’ to remain on the shore,” Lila continued as she pointed around in a circle.

“Yes!… Yes. Yes! Yes!!!” The crowd gave resounding affirmatives and Lila and Lin shot each other a mischievous grin.

“Okay, it’s settled. Chet, lead the way!” Lila said, motioning for the group to follow.

“I don’t know if I’m much of a tour guide, but I’ll do my best,” the marbled Glowing Lutari said with a chuckle.

As they entered the cave, they saw that the walls had fissures that went from shallow to deep. They ran into one another in an intricate design that was only made more magnificent by the prismatic glow they emanated. At the mouth of the cave, there were two colours within these illuminated veins: green and pink. As they moved through the cave, more colours appeared - red, blue, and yellow. It was an incredulous sight to see.

“The colours are beginning to deepen and multiply,” Chet began aloud. “This must mean that we are getting to their source.”

The tourists were taking pictures of the walls of the cave as they “ooh”ed and “ahh”ed.

“What is that?” Lila asked, pointing to something moving ahead of them…

"It's so pretty-eeeuGH!" exclaimed a Disco Draik, who reached his hand out to touch a pink-and-green river of water only to find his hands suddenly glowing the same hues as the water he had touched.

Chet gave a puzzled look at the Draik's hand, then a once-over to his bright mishmash of Disco colours. "On the bright side, I doubt anyone will notice."

The Draik scowled in response.

In a poorly-veiled attempt to break the tension, Lila pointed up to the source of the water. "Look, the worms!"

Sure enough, worms adorned the walls and ceiling of the cave, their colours changing as various hues of water ran over them, glowing and sparkling in the dim light of the cave.

"It must be coming from the Rainbow Pool -- we can't be too far from it, maybe the worms ate through the cave wall and hit some runoff in the groundwater?" guessed Lin.

"But what brought the worms out here in the first place? And how do we fix this before it spreads and turns all of Kiko Lake into some sort of Franken-Pool?" asked Lila.

"And how do we get our original colours back?" asked the formerly Faerie-coloured Ruki pointedly.

"I sure hope you have Paint Brush Insurance," muttered the Disco Draik.

"I wouldn't mind being one of the first Tye-Dye pets..." mumbled a young Aisha, casting a tempted glance at one of the dripping stalactites. His mother shot him a stern look and tightened her grip on his hand, clearly not sharing his enthusiasm.

"There must be something we can do before this becomes a full-blown natural disaster. Didn't you say the M.E.T. was investigating this?" Lila asked Chet hopefully.

He nodded, but his expression remained wary. "We do have one hypothesis. Though I must warn you, some of you may not like it..."

How will this story end?

“Mining of the obsidians has been ongoing for years, and especially now when Moltara becomes more widely known to Neopians, there has been a surge in obsidian extraction for tourism, crafting, collection and other reasons. Some companies see this as a lucrative business and started to mine illegally on their own, and this has caused a greater deal of damage to the environment than what has previously been allowed by the Moltaran government.” Chet sighed.

“But what does this have to do with the worms here? Moltara is so far away!” the Maraquan Jubjub in the group raised his hand, wanting to attract Chet’s attention.

“You see, for thousands of years, these little worms have been living underground within the cracks of the volcanic rocks in Moltara. When more and more rocks are mined, these worms eventually lose their natural habitat and are forced to live elsewhere… which brings me to Kiko Lake!”

“The sudden change in environment and diet must have caused the worms to behave abnormally… I mean, I certainly can’t get used to Moltaran food!” Lila added as she touched one of the Pink Worms passing by, causing her hands to turn bright pink. “What can we do then?”

Silence befell the group as they tried hard to think of possible solutions. Some things are just beyond the ability of common Neopets. A few of them turned to look at Chet, expecting M.E.T. to have a solution.

Pressured by the glaze, Chet sighed, “I wish I did have an immediate solution for this, but I will need to report this to the headquarters first and maybe try to request reinforcements to deal with the more urgent situation-“

“I know what to do!” A gentle voice interrupted. Suddenly, a blue glow appeared in front of the group. Light blue stardust fell from the blue glow and with a twinkling sound, Naia the Fountain Faerie appeared. “WOW! THE FOUNTAIN FAERIE!” the youngsters in the group were in awe of the presence of Naia. It was difficult to see Faeries except in Faerieland, and to top it all off, seeing a Fountain Faerie was a rather rare experience.

“I am rather disturbed by the sudden irregularities happening at the Rainbow Pool. My powers are slowly depleting as there seems to have been a sudden spike in the number of painted Neopets. And worst of all, some Neopets are only partially painted!” Naia frowned as she noticed the different colours on Lila’s hand.

“I need all of you to help catch these worms so that they can stop rampaging around leaving trails of colours everywhere. I will have to prepare a bigger spell to reverse the effects caused by these worms so I will need to focus.” Naia tried to give instructions to the group. “Put the worms inside this terrarium after you’ve caught them.”

With a snap of her fingers, a light blue glow started to grow in Naia’s hands, growing larger by the minute. Eventually, the glow started to dim and a large glass terrarium appeared in her hands. Naia handed the terrarium to Chet, who was standing closest to her.

“But wait! What will happen to these worms?” Lila could not help but ask. Surely no one would want harm to come to these little living beings!

“Not to worry, they will be well taken care of with the magic I cast in the terrarium.” Naia replied, feeling confident that the group would be able to complete this quest successfully.

“Roger that, Fountain Faerie. Rest assured that M.E.T. will do our best to provide the best care for these creatures - until it is time for them to go back home to Moltara. There is definitely some work to be done to nab those illegal miners, but I promise you, I will do what I can to bring these little guys home.” Chet gleamed as he gave a thumbs-up to Naia.

Knowing that the worms would be well taken care of while also wanting the best for them, the group spent the next few hours trying to catch all the worms in the area with every item they could find - nets, hats, jars, scarves, some even used their bare hands.

By the time the group has finished catching all the worms they could find in the area and returned to the lake, night has already fallen. Some younger Neopets had already fallen asleep in their parent’s arms.

- Three days later -

As Lila started to prepare to receive her next tour group at the Kiko Lake, she could not help but wonder how Chet and the worms were doing back at the M.E.T. headquarters. The colour on her hands has faded, but one can still see a tinge of pink if you looked closely. While her bosses were quite upset at her decision to bring the tour group out for the extra “tour”, they did not penalise Lila after receiving a high influx of good reviews.

“It’s back to another working day at Kiko Lake, I guess” Lila smiled as she opened the front door of her Neohome. Deep down in her heart, Lila secretly hoped that she would be able to go on another adventure with Chet again someday!

The End.