Clues in the Hidden Tower: Sparkles's Mystery - Part Seven

     "I think I just saw Oscar," Sparkles exclaimed to Scary. "He said something about a 'Xandra.'"

     "What about grated cheese?" Scary exclaimed back. She and Sparkles fell to the ground, but Sparkles decided to lie on the ground and feel the vibrations. To her amazement, Sparkles felt like the ground was pushing upwards. The quake was rumbling so hard that some of the smaller trees began to look taller and taller. Could they be floating into the sky too? As the quake continued, Sparkles and Scary noticed that a strange mist of fog was sprouting from the ground. Sparkles was surprised when she tried to take a breath in. The fog felt very cold and chilling.

     Where is all of this fog coming from? Sparkles wondered to herself. When the quake was over, Sparkles was relieved to be on solid ground again. But then she felt another weird motion. Was the ground going down?

     "I think the ground is going down," Sparkles told Scary as the movements continued.

     "Yeah, right," Scary scoffed. As soon as the movements landed, Scary took out a lipstick from her pocket. "Two quakes and two bumps," Scary said as she applied the lipstick. "Faerieland must be very prone to the two things I hate the most!"

     "Guys," Brynn cried as she ran towards the two Bruces. Walking behind her was a grumbling Hanso. "Did you see those clouds forming?" she wondered.

     "I didn't see any new clouds," Sparkles admitted. Scary nodded in agreement.

     "Didn't you two see that fog that was coming from the ground?" Hanso asked the girls. "Because those were the new clouds that were forming. Man, you two must be blind."

     "We are not blind," Scary argued, "and I'm sure that the fog was anything but a new cloud."

     "I don't know," Sparkles said thoughtfully. "The fog was really cold. And it did look puffy to me. Maybe somebody's trying to re-create the giant cloud that had once held Faerieland in the sky."

     Brynn rubbed her chin. "That makes sense," she said. "I mean if somebody really is trying to bring Faerieland back to solid... sky, it makes sense for them to re-create the giant cloud. I guess we can wait for a quake tomorrow. That way, we can inspect the fog more closely instead of fearing it."

     "I also saw Oscar running around," Sparkles admitted. "He was screaming at everybody. He was saying something about a Xandra."

     "I thought he was screaming 'grated cheese'," said Scary. But Hanso and Brynn looked very scared.

     "Xandra," Brynn gasped. Her eyes went very wide. "What did Oscar actually say about Xandra?"

     Sparkles shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I could only hear 'Xandra'. Nothing else. By the way, what's a Xandra? I think Saphrine mentioned a Xandra once..."

     "You don't know who Xandra is?!?!" Hanso exclaimed. When Scary and Sparkles shook their heads, Hanso facepalmed himself. "Wow, you guys are so dumb! I bet every other Neopian knows who Xandra is."

     "Are you going to tell us who she or he is, or are you going to continue insulting Sparkles?" Scary demanded, not knowing Hanso was also insulting her.

     "Well, Xandra was a powerful sorceress," Brynn explained. "When a curse struck Faerieland, Xandra became an important part of the whole plot. She helped us solve the mystery and helped to defeat the wraiths. We learned, though, that Xandra wasn't who she appeared to be."

     "She had wickedly betrayed us and tried to rule Faerieland," Hanso continued, "but sadly, the only things she could do was destroy an artifact, kill Hubrid Nox, turn all of the faeries into stone, and crash Faerieland on the ground. Oh yeah; she had also turned the both of us into stone."

     Sparkles was very surprised. "What happened to her?" she asked Brynn.

     "Well, Hanso was freed from the spell by Fyora. Xandra, however, was not so lucky," Brynn sighed. "But anyways, I guess we can safely say that-"

     "Xandra has escaped!" Oscar exclaimed as he approached the group. He looked like he had seen a ghost. "You all have to leave Faerieland right away! Who knows what will happen to us now."

     "What on earth are you talking about?" said Hanso. "Xandra is a stone statue, dude. There's no way she could have escaped."

     "But I saw her," Oscar whispered to Hanso. Sparkles leaned closer to listen. "I was minding my own business in Faerie City when I saw her. She was laughing like a maniac and her eyes were very red. Terrified, I fled to the nearby woods. That was where me and Mike met, and we're still staying there until Xandra left."

     "This still can't be possible," Hanso insisted. "All of the faeries are asleep. And besides, who would be dumb enough to free Xandra."

     "But perhaps someone else has magical powers," Sparkles suggested. "Like Mike?"

     "While I don't really know Mike that well, I can safely say that Mike doesn't have any magic powers," Oscar told Sparkles. "I doubt Mike would want to free Xandra, anyways. He can't even tie his shoes!" Everybody just stared at him.

     "Really un-necessary," said Scary. She yawned and told the group that they should meet again tomorrow. "Let's all hope some sleep would keep us from making up crazy stories, eh Oscar?" Oscar glared at her and walked away. Everyone else agreed to meet tomorrow.

     ***

     "Finally, I can sleep," Scary sighed as she brushed her hair in front of the Water faerie vanity. Scary and Sparkles were in their Faerieland Hotel room, and Scary was telling Sparkles about her opinions on the day. "I can't believe that stupid Oscar claimed that 'Xandra' whoever she is has escaped. Isn't that just the dumbest thing?"

     "But what if it's true?" asked Sparkles, who was still feeling a bit sceptical. "I think that maybe Oscar was telling the truth. I don't know if he did see Xandra, or whether or not Mike saw it too, but I can tell that he was very afraid."

     "Yeah right," Scary scoffed, "and I bet you're going to preach faerie tales are real, right?" Sparkles blushed as Scary continued. "Like I was saying," she added, "I think Faerieland is just too weird this week. I think we should go back home."

     "But tomorrow's my birthday! We can't leave yet," Sparkles gasped, surprised that she had almost forgotten her birthday. "Oh my gosh, tomorrow IS my birthday! We have so much to do to celebrate!"

     "You're going to celebrate your birthday when Faerieland is thrown in utter chaos?" Scary asked. "But whatever floats your boat. As long as I get cake."

     "We'll see," said Sparkles. "But what I would like to talk about are these weird occurrences around Faerieland. Like the Hidden Tower."

     "What's so weird about that? Besides it being invisible and all," Scary yawned.

     "Remember when you ran into it two times?" said Sparkles. "Wasn't it weird that the Hidden Tower was always changing its location? It was like somebody was moving the Hidden Tower."

     "And do you think Brynn has anything to do with it?" Scary wondered. "I find it fishy that the tower began moving when she came along."

     "I'm sure whoever was doing it was not trying to frame Brynn," Sparkles insisted. "But what about that missing amulet? Is anybody trying to frame Hanso?"

     "It could've been Saphrine," said Scary. "But because she and Illene are now dead, I guess they can't be suspects."

     "Yeah," Sparkles agreed. "But I can't help feel like we're missing somebody. We know we didn't do anything, and Illene and Saphrine are crossed off our lists. Could the culprit really be... either Hanso and Brynn?"

     "Could be," Scary replied. "If they can cause an earthquake, they can do anything."

     "But Brynn said she felt the same thing as me," said Sparkles. "If she felt the same thing, I'm sure she couldn't have done it." But even Sparkles was still unsure. Brynn did know a lot on Faerie magic. Could she have done it?

     "I do feel that we're missing something here," Scary admitted. "I mean I have been thinking about this a lot, and whoever is doing this to us has got to be either someone we don't know or somebody we're overlooking."

     "But who could we be overlooking?" Sparkles wondered. "Illene and Saphrine are now asleep. Hanso and Brynn are with us. And Mike and Oscar are still in the woods."

     "Well, at least we know why they are in the woods," said Scary in a relieved voice. "Although, I do like the idea of them being crazy."

     "But I still don't understand them," sighed Sparkles. "I know they can't magically create clouds out of the ground..." Suddenly she gasped. "Scary! I know who did it!" she exclaimed.

     "Well then, stop screaming and tell me," said Scary, but Sparkles refused to say anything.

     "You'll have to wait for tomorrow to come," said Sparkles. She knew her conclusion was going to make her birthday the best day yet!

To be continued...