"Never nap under a rock tree," Maiyaia the faerie Kau
said wisely to her best friend, Naetea the skunk Zafara.
"Always wear a poncho when playing Sewage Surfer,"
Naetea answered.
"When eating a--"
"--Wormy Slushie, pick out all the worms first."
The two Neopets turned to look at the intruder of their "proverbs" game.
"Excuse me, it's very rude to interrupt," Maiyaia
said, her bell ringing angrily.
Naetea let out a strange noise, something like
a muffled snort. She nudged the Kau with her black paw, snickering, "Mai! Look!"
Mai looked, and immediately burst into loud guffaws.
She and her friend rolled around on the ground, laughing hysterically.
"I don't appreciate that," the small yellow Scorchio
said irritably.
"Yes, they act as if they've never seen gnomes
before," his yellow Kiko companion complained.
Naetea pulled herself off the ground and rose
up, twice the height of the Scorchio and Kiko. "Is that what you are? Gnomes?"
she giggled. "No, we've never seen walking, talking gnomes before! Only in peoples'
gardens!" She and Mai started laughing all over again.
"Stop sniggering!" the Kiko gnome ordered. His
stubby claw flew up to his bright red hat and pulled out a silver gun. He pointed
it at the rolling Neopets. "Get up! You're coming with us!"
"Asparagus?" Maiyaia responded quietly, her voice
still choking with laughter. "Oh, no. Nae, we'd better go with them." She stepped
on Naetea's foot with her hoof, trying to keep a straight face.
"That's right!" the Scorchio said, pleased by
their reaction. "You fear the asparagus powered gun! Let's go, 7064!"
"Right you are, 2957!" the Kiko answered. The
two gnomes marched off the quietly giggling Neopets.
They stopped in a small, bare Neogarden. "Um,"
Naetea said. "What are we doing?"
"We are sending you on a quest!" 7064 barked
smartly.
"A quest?" Maiyaia repeated, smirking slightly.
"You don't look like faeries to me." The Kau and Zafara started laughing for
the billionth time.
"We need you to find the fabled Hidden Tower!"
2957 answered with a scowl. "We require a very important item! And you are the
ones to bring it to us!"
"Do we look like we have millions and millions
of NP?" Naetea questioned.
"Wait, well, we are painted. But that doesn't
mean anything!"
"What will the reward be, anyhow?" her Kau friend
said.
2957 pulled out a hefty sack of NP from his pocket.
"I'm sure this will be enough," he said. "There are one million Neopoints in
this bag. You two may keep the rest after buying us our special item," the Scorchio
gnome added generously.
Naetea frowned and whispered to Maiyaia, "With
the prices in the Hidden Tower, we'll probably only end up with 10,000 NP! It's
a waste of time." At Mai's nod, she said regally, "We decline."
ZZZAAAAAPPPPP! Mai and Nae jumped! A large
circle of grass next to them had become charred and smoky due to 7064 firing
the ray gun.
"Jeez, okay," Mai retorted, annoyed. "You're
not supposed to use weapons outside the BD, ya know. There's no need to start
shooting at us! Someone could get hurt! Us, really!"
"What need would we have in the Battledome?"
7064 replied. "You are the ones we have picked to quest for our item! It will
take you many days to find the Hidden Tower, but 8419 has said you are the ones
who know of its location! Now go!"
The two gnomes started ushering the Neopets into
the street.
"But wait!" Naetea protested. "You haven't told
us what you want!" She tucked the heavy bag of NP into her pocket.
"Oh, that," 2957 said. "We want a Snow Faerie
Doll."
The faerie Kau and skunk Zafara looked at each
other, before falling to the ground cackling.
***
"Okay, we'll go," Maiyaia gasped, trying to stifle her laughter. "But why
do you want a Snow Faerie Doll?"
7064's Kiko face scrunched up in a scowl at the
two Neopets. "She is obviously the best faerie! Her doll is a collector's
item! And it is a noble quest to retrieve it from the legendary Hidden Tower!"
"So, basically, you're big fans," Naetea giggled.
"Dude, it's not that hard to find the Hidden Tower! Practically everyone knows
where it is, and will tell you free of charge!"
2957 flapped his Scorchio wings angrily. "A quest
is much nobler! Now get off with you!" He flew at the Neopets' legs, attacking
wildly.
Maiyaia lifted her hoof and stared down quizzically
at the deranged gnome. "Um, I hope you don't really think that hurts."
With a flick of her hoof, she sent the gnome flying into his Kiko friend. "Come
on, Nae. If they want a faerie doll, a faerie doll they shall get." She winked
at the Zafara and the two started down the road.
"Wait!" the Kiko gnome called desperately as
he and 2957 pulled themselves off the ground. "Can you stop by Terror Mountain
and get us an autograph!?"
"Oh, Neopia!" Maiyaia said as she and Naetea
got on the air shuttle to Faerieland. "I can't believe we're doing a 'quest'
for two garden gnomes. And I can't believe we have a million NP!"
Naetea peered at the bag of NP. "You know, Mai,
we could just walk off with their NP. They wouldn't know."
The faerie Kau stared at her friend in bewilderment.
"Well, they are obviously big fans of the Snow Faerie. They really want that
doll. And, since, you know, they don't seem to know where the Hidden Tower is,
we could at least fulfil that one wish."
"Two!" Naetea reminded Maiyaia. "They want an
autograph! How sad is that?"
Mai frowned. "Come on, Nae. Let's just
do it. We get a reward, you know." She took the NP from Nae and weighed it in
her hoof. "I think the Snow Faerie Doll is 900,000. A hundred thousand isn't
bad. It's not that much trouble."
"Fine, fine," Naetea sighed.
Just then, a small bell tinkled. "Welcome to
Faerieland," a smooth voice said over the shuttle loudspeaker. "Please watch
your step as you exit onto the clouds, and do not dig amongst our clouds. Poogle
Races start in seven minutes, better hurry! Have a nice day, and enjoy your
visit."
The silver shuttle doors slid open, revealing
a wonderful, well, Faerieland. The sun twinkled in the sky, and faeries were
everywhere.
"Well, let's get to the Hidden Tower," Naetea
said. She stuffed the NP back in her pocket and they went on the clouds, deep
into the heart of Faerie City.
They climbed endless staircases into the sky,
pausing at a crooked purple brick. Maiyaia pushed the brick with her hoof, revealing
a doorway in the wall. They stepped into what looked like empty air.
It was actually the invisible Hidden Tower. Fyora
smiled at the Neopets.
"Hello, dears," she said, her voice kind and
gentle. "Would you like to make a purchase? These magical artifacts are centuries
old! A sword of the air faerie, perhaps? Or maybe you are looking for earth
faerie leaves. Faerie fog?"
"No, thanks," Naetea replied. "Actually we'd
like to buy-ooh, a rainbow swirly thing!"
"That will be three million, six hundred fifty-three--"
"No, no," Maiyaia interrupted. "May we have a
Snow Faerie Doll please?"
"Oh, the faerie queen doll is beautiful, isn't
it?" Fyora smiled again.
"Yes, but we don't have enough--" Mai started
to say.
"For a fan, I'm sure we could work something
out," Fyora answered smoothly.
Naetea butted her Zafara tail in. "Excuse me,
Ms. Faerie Queen, but we only have enough for a Snow Faerie Doll. Please?" She
looked at Fyora expectantly.
"Yes, yes," Fyora sighed with disappointment.
She retrieved the said doll and started to hand it to Naetea. "Seven hundred
fifty thousand NP."
Maiyaia's eyes widened and she whispered to Naetea,
"We get a quarter million NP leftover!" She reached out her hoof for the bag
of NP.
"Mai!" Naetea hissed. Her black eyes darted nervously.
Maiyaia sighed. "Nae, we don't have enough for
the rainbow swirly thing."
"It's not the rainbow swirly thing!" the Zafara
insisted. "Mai...the NP! It's not in my pocket!"
To be continued... | 
