The Search for the Tooth Faerie: Part Two

"We are going to find the Tooth Faerie?" My jaw dropped.

      "Of course!" Dewdrop exclaimed. "If we can't find her then I know I'm right!"

      "And WHEN we do find her," Strife added, "I can thank her for the Neopoints and everyone will know I'm right!"

      Dewdrop and Strife both exchanged nasty looks. I stood there and sighed. This started out as such a nice evening; now it looked as though we'd go on a wild chase and my pets would do nothing but fight. I didn't know where to find the Tooth Faerie, and by the looks on both of my pets' faces, I knew we had no choice but to start looking.

      "So," I mumbled, beginning to pack a bag for myself. "Where are we going to start looking for the Tooth Faerie?"

      "FAERIELAND!" Strife exclaimed.

      "No way!" Dewdrop insisted. "We've been to Faerieland plenty of times with no sign of the Tooth Faerie. She must be someplace else!"

      "But how can you not look for a faerie in Faerieland!?! If nothing else, maybe Fyora can direct us where to look next," Strife snapped. "If not in Faerieland, where do YOU suggest we look?"

      "Um..." Dewdrop struggled for an answer. "Terror Mountain!"

      "Terror Mountain?" I sobbed. Not only was the quiet evening ruined, but I'd have to spend it in a cold place too.

      "Yeah!" Dewdrop reasoned. "I remember seeing a poster of the Tooth Faerie someplace over there, and the background was blue and white just like the Ice Caves."

      "Are you sure they weren't blue and white CLOUDS?" Strife rolled her eyes.

     "You know..." I decided to butt in. "If you ask me, I think I remember them being clouds too," I lied, hoping to avoid Terror Mountain.

     "Well, of course you'd take HER side," Dewdrop puffed. "We rarely visit Terror Mountain except in the Month of Celebrating. Just ignore the fact that my favorite REAL faerie is there…"

     "Taelia?" Strife asked.

     "No!" Dewdrop huffed and looked directly at me. "You know who my favorite faerie is, don't you?"

     I began to sweat as my mind frantically tried to remember what was in Terror Mountain. Shows what kind of pet owner you are, I thought. Then suddenly I came up with an answer.

     "The Negg Faerie!" I tried to exclaim, though it sounded undoubtedly like a question.

      "Lucky guess," Dewdrop hissed.

      "So where are we starting?" Strife asked, trying to get back to the search.

      "Faerieland," I replied. "Strife's right, so that we can get back in a reasonable time, we should ask Fyora."

      "I guess so," Dewdrop pouted. "It'll be a real short trip then, especially when she tells us there's no Tooth Faerie."

      "Enough!" I replied, sure that if we didn't leave soon I'd have one less pet to deal with.

      "Fine," Dewdrop said as she tossed her bag onto her back. "To Faerieland it is!"

      I was pleased with myself for two reasons once we reached the edge of Faerieland. The first was because we were actually going on an adventure, something we hadn't done in quite some time. The other reason was I seemed to have successfully avoided the cold of Terror Mountain again.

      "So where to first?" I asked, as I noticed both Strife's and Dewdrop's eyes widened. Perhaps it really has been too long since we last got out of the house, I began to think.

      "Faerie Foods," Dewdrop stated.

      "Faerie Foods?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

      "Definitely." Dewdrop smiled and headed in the direction towards the Faerie Food shop. She had gone a few feet before she noticed neither Strife nor I followed.

      "Well," she began. "I was thinking, since there is no Dentist in Neopia, perhaps the Tooth Faerie enchants the food to help us keep our teeth in good health…"

      "I thought you didn't believe in the Tooth Faerie!" Strife shouted.

      "There's only one way to find out!" Dewdrop replied and raced to the store.

      There wasn't any time to argue, and it wasn't too long after we entered the shop that we were all tempted into some of the delicious treats for sale. No sign of the Tooth Faerie here, but there was plenty of yumminess to see with Dewdrop's Cherry-tastic Faerie Pie, Strife's Chocolate Faerie Cake, and my choice, Fancy Faerie Float!

      "I think this is a great way to start a search!" Strife smiled after taking her first bite.

      "I think so too." Dewdrop smiled back. "But, we haven't even found a clue as to where the Tooth Faerie could be. Perhaps we could look at the counter again…"

      "Or..." I interrupted. "We could look somewhere else."

      "Right," Dewdrop said with a frown.

      "Why don't we try the Faerie Crossword?" Strife suggested. "We can have some fun doing a puzzle, and ask the Library Faerie if she knows anything about the Tooth Faerie."

      "That sounds like a good idea," I grinned, since I at least like to think I'm good at crosswords. "What do you say, Dewdrop, you up to doing a crossword?"

      "Sure," Dewdrop said with the last mouthful of her pie. "I just hope it's an easy one."

      We cleaned up our table and took a nice walk to the Faerie Crossword. The Library Faerie greeted them with a smile.

      "Hello," she said joyfully.

      "Hello," I replied cheerfully, still happy from the Fancy Faerie Float. "We have a question for you?"

      "For me?" she seemed surprised.

      "Yes," Strife continued. "We were wondering if you could help us find the Tooth Faerie."

      "The Tooth Faerie, eh?" she said as she pushed her glasses back.

      "Yes," Dewdrop sighed. "We want to know if she's real.."

      "Of course she's real!" the Library Faerie interrupted. "How can you come into Faerieland and dare say that a Faerie does not exist?!"

      "What we REALLY wanted to know," Strife said as she gently kicked Dewdrop, "was where she lived and more information about her. Very little is known about the Tooth Faerie and we were curious."

      "Well," the Library Faerie said, back in her normal quiet tone, "That I may be able to help you with. Here," she said and handed us the crossword. "If you help me to fill in the crossword puzzle, I'll take a look and see what information I can find for you about the Tooth Faerie."

      "Great!" I said, and excitedly took the crossword.

      Hmmm, I thought, 14 questions. This shouldn't take us long at all.

      "Number 3 down is easy! '___ Mints; so strong, you might lose a tooth.' That is definitely 'zoba.'" Strife was the first to give an answer.

      Not to be outdone, Dewdrop was quick to offer the next clue, "Number 7 across, '___ of Hot Borovan', that would be 'cup.'"

      Now it was up to me. I decided to start from the beginning, "Number 1 down, 'The food of the gods', could that be 'Diospyros'?"

      "That doesn't even fit," Strife laughed.

      "Diospyros?" Dewdrop gave me a strange look. "Where did you come up with that?"

      My feelings were hurt, I actually thought it was a reasonable answer, but apparently both of my pets didn't agree.

      "Well, then what do YOU think it is?" I asked, trying not to let my wounded pride show.

      "Oh I get it," Dewdrop rolled her eyes. "You were just trying to TEST us."

      She and Strife exchanged a look, and Strife nodded. "That's right, it's a test."

      "Try 'Asparagus' and see if that works," Dewdrop giggled and started to take away the crossword and pencil from my hands, "Then leave the rest of the puzzle to us."

      I crossed my arms and waiting for which would happen first: either the Library Faerie would come around the corner with some sort of help for where to go next, or for Strife and Dewdrop to finish the crossword and rub it in that they were much smarter than I was.

      Unfortunately, they finished the crossword first. Luckily though, before they had a chance to comment, the Library Faerie appeared.

      "Oh! You've finished that crossword very quickly! Thank you!" She smiled and handed Dewdrop and Strife little bags.

      "Too bad we didn't have much help from our owner," Dewdrop commented.

      "Really?" the Library Faerie said with a frown. "Maybe next time things will be a little easier."

      They giggled together and I still sat with my arms crossed. It was time for a subject change. "Did you find anything about where the Tooth Faerie lives?"

      "Oh yes," the Library Faerie said with a cough. "I had almost forgotten. I didn't find out very much though."

      "Anything at all would help us out," Strife said hopefully.

      "What I did find out is that she does live in Faerieland, and that in addition to exchanging teeth for Neopoints, she loves to play games," the Library Faerie offered.

      "Wow, thanks!" Strife danced. "See! We came to the right place after all!"

      "I think it was just a lucky guess." Dewdrop sighed. "Faerieland is an obvious choice; I was hoping for more of a challenge."

      "We haven't found her yet," I added.

      "True," Dewdrop sighed. "Where should we start? We've already done the Faerie Crossword, what other games are there?"

      "Maths Nightmare," the Library Faerie suggested.

      "Or Faerie Cloud Racers!" I added.

      "The Wheel of Excitement!" Strife continued.

      "Or Poogle Racing!" Dewdrop remembered.

      "We better get started," I said with an appreciative nod to the Library Faerie. "We'll try Maths Nightmare first since it's the closest."

      "Sure," Dewdrop pouted. "It may be the closest, but I doubt that's the game she enjoys."

      "Why not?" Strife asked, a fan of the game.

      "Because it's boring!" Dewdrop exclaimed. "It's like pulling teeth, not exchanging them for Neopoints!"

      "Then where do you suggest we start?" Strife challenged.

      "Poogle Racing, of course!" Dewdrop smiled. "I think that would be the answer for sure."

      "Alright," I replied, remembering my big loss at the Poogle Racers the last time I went. "To the Poogle Races it is."

To be continued...