A Detective's Holiday Away

     Detective Greg briefly took in the sights once he had arrived at the gates of Faerie City: pink and purple buildings laid in an enchanted faerie forest, various sparkling waterfalls, and the rubble that was the once-great Faerieland Castle. Despite the construction, this was a city full of life and joy. To be frank, Detective Greg had been to Faerie City numerous times on business trips. Although he now tried his best to gaze at the city with fresh eyes, his reddened eyes were just far too tired for that. With a sigh, he tightened the knot around his trench coat and wobbled to his new home: a little purple building next to Faerieland Petpets.

     This Neohome originally belonged to a Faerie Lenny. Detective Greg wasn’t told this himself, but he quickly deduced it by just entering through the front door and seeing the colourful feathers dispersed around the room, the narrow walkways created for someone slender, and the cabinets being a bit too high for a quadrupedal Neopet. It was Detective Greg’s job to notice these things, after all. He was a detective and a very good one at that.

     With a habitual sigh, Detective Greg nudged out a tall kitchen chair and then tried his best to pull himself up on top of it. The only item left for him on the kitchen table was a ripped piece of paper that only had scrawled “please take care of my Petpet” across it. With another sigh, Detective Greg reluctantly peered around to see if he could spot his new roommate.

     Fortunately for him, his new roommate was found panting loudly at the floor near his feet. Grimacing, Detective Greg saw it was a Faerie Dribblet slobbering all of the floor. “Lovely,” our detective muttered, already feeling like moving here for the weekend was a mistake. The Faerie Dribblet just kept obnoxiously smiling and panting, its own slimy, little tongue lolling out of its big tongue body.

     He started to consider how the creature was more like a pest-pest than a Petpet when a sharp rap was heard from the front door. Detective Greg scrambled off his chair to answer, almost sliding into the splits from all the slobber.

     The Faerie Dribblet beat him to the door first, panting and ruffing at whoever was waiting on the other side.

     Once Detective Greg opened the door just a crack, he then exclaimed a startled, “My Queen!” and quickly opened the door wider for Queen Fyora to enter the purple abode.

     Queen Fyora strolled in, stopping to pet the slimy little tongue now hyperventilating at her feet. “Did you get a new Petpet, Greg? Oh, it’s so precious!” she said, her pats on top of its head making a splattery sound.

     “It’s just for the weekend,” Detective Greg responded, still a bit overcome with it all.

     “I was just leaving the castle when I thought I saw you outside of the Petpet shop,” the queen started, “I have some very important business for you. Are you on duty?”

     “Always for you,” Detective Greg answered, happy to have something to take his mind off of this Neohome and this pest-err… Petpet.

     “Oh good! Can you come back to the castle with me? There’s something I need you to see.”

     With a nod, Detective Greg and (unfortunately) the Faerie Dribblet followed the Faerie Queen across the street to the fallen castle.

     “It’s the most peculiar thing,” Queen Fyora began, looking down at the object in front of her.

     Detective Greg squinted, taking in a large bottle complete with a cork, gold ribbon, and a little Baby Draik inside.

     “I’ve tried everything to get him out, but he seems to be quite happy in there? I’ve tried to speak to him but he can’t seem to hear me through the glass. Who do you think could have done this? Could it be Balthazar?” pondered the queen aloud.

     Balthazar was a fierce Lupe Bounty Hunter. He preferred to target faeries, catching them with nets and squeezing them into his empty bottles to sell at a ransom.

     “No, I don’t think this is his doing,” Detective Greg considered, “His goals all align with making a profit and I don’t see why he would waste good neopoints on flourishes like this ribbon.”

     “Oh, that’s true. You’re right, detective. Who do you think it could be then?”

     Detective Greg pondered again while briefly catching the Faerie Dribblet licking the outside of the bottle and the little Baby Draik inside frowning back at it. “I’m really not sure. I’ll poke around and see if anything comes out of it,” was all he could answer.

     Detective Greg had a hard time sleeping that night, not because he was contemplating his new quest, but because the Faerie Dribblet panted loudly and mewed in its sleep. Detective Greg was about to throw one of his pillows at it when he heard another sharp rap on his front door.

     Again, his visitor was Queen Fyora. “There’s been another victim!” she exclaimed, quickly tucking a yawning Detective Greg under one arm and sprinting back to the castle.

     Next to the jar containing the Baby Draik now sat another bottle, this one equal in size but with a lavender bow and a Purple Jubjub sleeping soundly inside.

     “Are you sure this isn’t Balthazar?” the Faerie Queen asked again.

     “No, definitely not. He wouldn’t spend the neopoints on one kind of ribbon, let alone two. This kind of customization… well, I have an idea. Let me take the day and return to you tomorrow.” Finishing with a yawn, Detective Greg stumbled his way back to his temporary Neohome and crawled back into bed.

     He woke up around noon cuddling a wet, panting thing and quickly sprang awake with a shout. The Faerie Dribblet winked at him, all while wetting the bed. Usually, Detective Greg had problems gathering the energy to get out of bed once he had awoken, but this new roommate seemed to cure him of that.

     Quickly making a pot of coffee and then slamming the front door behind him to trap the Petpet inside, Detective Greg made his way down the street and out of Faerie City. He poofed himself to Neopia Central and made his way over to his destination: the NC Mall.

     The first display of “New Items” didn’t feature what he was looking for, but he saw the store now had a “Spring” section where it had been all winter wearables prior. Here, Detective Greg found exactly what he expected to see: multiple bottles with gold ribbons tied around their necks.

     Next, he strolled his way through the mall until he came to a store he very rarely went into: Dyeworks. It’s not that Detective Greg didn’t have style, but rather he just didn’t like all the vibrant colours that this store had to offer.

     Upon seeing three different colours of ribbon behind the counter: a pink, lavender, and dark blue, Detective Greg gave a satisfied nod and hastily exited the mall. By the time he made it back to his little purple abode in Faerie City, he was already exhausted and crawled into bed for a power nap. He really should have stopped by The Coffee Cave on his way back. His power nap ended up turning into a full night’s sleep, alongside his little slobbery roommate, of course.

      The next morning, Queen Fyora couldn’t believe her pointy ears. “WHAT? Their own OWNERS are CHOOSING to do this to them?!” She exclaimed, after listening to Detective Greg’s findings.

      “Yes, I guess their owners think it looks… cute? It's a trend. Plus, the pets still seem happy.”

      Queen Fyora just shook her head in response but still gave Detective Greg two additional levels, five hit points, and five more strength points as his reward for completing her given quest. Satisfied, Detective Greg shuffled across the street to finish his last day in the purple abode.

      He was only sipping his fourth cup of coffee at the kitchen table when the door burst open in a shower of purple, blue, and green feathers.

      “My Little Prince! My Little Prince!! Where are you?” A Faerie Lenny squawked, looking frazzled until it saw the little slippery tongue smiling on the floor.

      “MY BABY!” The Lenny cried, reaching and hugging the sopping tongue, perhaps a little too hard. Then the Faerie Lenny turned to Detective Greg. “YOU!” He angrily shouted.

      Detective Greg only looked at him in response.

      The Faerie Lenny shuffled his Petpet over to one wing and pointed a feathered finger from his free wing in the detective’s direction.

      “You said your home was minimalistic,” he continued to shout, “I took that as it was supposed to be a relaxing retreat! NOT that it was mostly barren and totally grey- like some kind of jail cell!“

      Detective Greg murmured in response, “I only need the essentials-“

      The Faerie Lenny cut him off with a scoff, “I was losing my mind there! It was SO boring! I had the worst holiday of my life!” The Lenny threw up his wing to touch his own forehead and sarcastically squawked, “I hope your holiday was pleasant!”

      Detective Greg was taken aback by his own honest response of: “It was.” A little smile grew on his usual frowny face. Thinking about his weekend, he realized that he’s really happiest when doing what he does best: solving mysteries. He even came to a kind of understanding coexisting with his little slobbery roommate. Satisfied, Detective Greg sprang from his chair and started for the door, passing the gaping Lenny. Our detective couldn’t wait to go home and return to his normal life of coffee and mysteries. He loved his life.

     The End.