Mom pet my shoulder with a kind smile on her face.
"You're doing so well, Alice," she told me. "I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks." I replied awkwardly, not sure how to absorb the compliment.
"Your dad would've been proud of you, too." Mom added sadly. My lip twitched. "Despite what he did… he loved you, Alice. He wanted to protect you."
"I know," I sighed. "I know very well." I looked at the backyard behind me. It's not very exciting. It's just grass with a few dirt patches. A vine is crawling up the neighbour's fence. That's pretty much all, really. I wondered if the backyard could change. Like I did. Maybe it just needed some pzazz. Maybe that was why I was chosen to be the prophesied hero. Because I needed some pzazz.
"Mom," I spoke up. "We should put some flowers or something in the backyard. It would make it a lot more interesting."
"That's a good idea," Mom replied, grinning at me. "I'll go and Google something. We can find some nice flowers to put in the backyard." She smirked. "And some seats too. For you and your friend Marcus."
"Yeah," I said, observing the grass. There was so much of it. And it grew so quickly. "I'd like that."
Fierce Fox and I landed in a hot, sandy, Arabian-style desert. There was a large, marble, gleaming tower behind us, decorated with paint. Large walls of white rock were there too. Sand was blowing in the light breeze and the sun was bearing down. We were in a bazaar on Arabian Nights Island. And there was a little problem.
"Arabian nights," I sung, quoting Aladdin. Fierce Fox gave me a look. "It's a movie quote." But her look wasn't very intense. Then it all hit me: PoptropiCon Island. The way she left me for that fashion show, the thing I told her not to attend. Then she got herself caught. I sighed. "Well, I suppose I got a taste of my own medicine. Now I know how that feels." I wasn't angry. Mostly surprised. And curious. "Why did you attend that fashion show, anyway?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Fierce Fox answered, almost sounding embarrassed. "What do we do first?"
I bit my lip. "Well, we have to go to the caves to find the forty thieves. Who are they? The answer is in the name: they're forty thieves. We have to find and stop them. There's a lot more story to it, but I won't explain it right now. For now, we have to go to the caves." I shrugged. "Their hideout isn't there, but there is something important there."
So Fierce Fox and I raced along the desert sand, passing huge, sand-brick buildings. They have lots of windows with cloth roofs, full of sand. Beside them is a circular, silver platform. This silver platform is where the thieves steal things. Why people would put their stuff on this platform, I don't know. Poptropica logic.
Anyway, Fierce Fox and I passed that area, coming to the caves. The main part is past rocky walls with holes. Some parts of the rock have quicksand. Fierce Fox and I climbed over the top, our feet brushing more sand. This island has quite a lot of sand. And brown rocks. Fierce Fox and I entered the main cave, which is, well, a cave. It's dark, made out of brown rocks, and has sandy ledges. There are things leftover from others who visited the caves, such as tents.
"This way." I told the quiet Fierce Fox, shoving a box against a sandy ledge. "There's a bunch of boxes we need to push to reach places." Fierce Fox nodded and followed me up that same ledge. She followed me down to another ledge, helped me push another box onto the floor, then leaped down. We pushed the third box to another ledge (just Poptropica things) and leaped over that.
More boxes and a broken ladder later, we reached the end of the caves. We found a skeleton with a turban, holding a bag of salt - which looked more like white crystals. I picked up the bag.
"There we go," I said. "That's what we need. Now it's time to trade."
Fierce Fox and I headed to the marketplace (or the bazaar) which is where we landed. Past that white wall is another white wall with a staircase with ledges and platforms. On those platforms are tents. In those tents are traders. Fierce Fox and I went over to the traders.
"Now," I told Fierce Fox. "We'll be doing a whole lot of trading. It'll help us get into the real hideout." With that, I leaped over to the first trader. I traded a bit of the salt for some grain. Fierce Fox watched me curiously. I headed over to the second trader. I traded another grain of salt for some cloth. Then I returned to the first trader and traded the cloth for a telescope. Finally, I traded another grain of salt for some cloth. Got all that? It's a bit confusing and repetitive.
Anyway, with the telescope, I headed over to that large tower. On top of it - as well as a pillar - is a lookout for a telescope. I placed the telescope on it, naturally. When I looked through it, I could see that silver platform. I grinned in satisfaction.
"Fierce Fox," I faced my currently quiet acquaintance. "Can you put this cloth on that platform?" I handed her the cloth. She nodded and headed off. I peered through the telescope, watching her place it on the platform. A frown was on her face. I sighed deeply. Soon, she returned. I gave her a gentle smile and gazed through the telescope. Sure enough, I saw two thieves steal the cloth. They left a group of black, smoky bombs behind. Bingo.
I raced over to the platform and grabbed the smoke bombs. Certainly very useful. Fierce Fox was milling behind me like a shy child. It felt strange to see her so quiet. She was usually much louder and more aggressive. Now she was acting like me when I first came to Poptropica. But I didn't say anything. I didn't really know what to say.
"Time to go to the palace." I said, heading left. We got to the entrance of the palace: a white stone palace covered in beautiful designs. Pillars with wooden windows were on the outside. There was a beautiful wooden door, too. It was covered in swirls. Two guards were blocking it.
"I'm going to throw this bomb, signalling the guards," I told Fierce Fox. "When the guards come, we run past them and head inside." She nodded. I threw the smoke bomb; smoke erupted from the ground. The guards came running over. I threw another smoke bomb to blind them, then raced off, Fierce Fox on my heels. We burst into the palace, relief flooding through my system.
I haven't been to many palaces - or expensive homes, for that matter - but I had a feeling this palace wasn't the best. Chandeliers had fallen down and been smashed. The windows were boarded up. There were cracks in the pillars and mess on the floor. Yeah, self-explanatory.
The sultan was at the end of the room, looking depressed. If you know the story, you know the sultan has a part in it. I won't spoil too much. Fierce Fox and I spoke to him.
"What happened here?" Fierce Fox asked, actually speaking.
"The Forty Thieves happened!" the sultan exclaimed. "They ransacked my palace and left me nothing."
"You mean, you're broke?" Fierce Fox asked, raising her brow.
"Money can be replaced, but the thieves took one precious thing from me: a lamp that is like no other," the sultan explained. "Find it, and I will grant you a fabulous reward."
"How can we find the lamp?" I asked, pitching in.
"I don't know," the sultan answered. "But perhaps you can start your quest with this." He handed us a green, shimmering jewel. "It is my last jewel. Trade it wisely." The jewel went into my inventory. I gave Fierce Fox a look. After that, we left. The guards confronted us.
"Hey!" one snapped. "How did you two come out of there?"
"If the boss finds out about this, we'll be in big trouble." the second one added.
"I can't lose this job," the first one whimpered. "This is all I have left!"
"Can you guys do us a favour and keep this between us?" the second one asked.
"I guess." Fierce Fox said, shrugging. I nodded.
"After all, what happens in the desert stays in the desert!" the first one proclaimed.
"I don't think I've heard that one before." I commented. Fierce Fox and I left after that and returned to the traders. We spoke to the one with a camel. We traded the crown jewel for a pearl. We traded the pearl for an ivory camel with another trader, then traded that camel for the real camel.
"If you can control him, this camel will follow you just about anywhere." the trader informed us.
"You need to be patient with this camel," I told Fierce Fox. "We can't go too fast." I took the camel's rein and slowly walked along. He and Fierce Fox trailed behind me. Honestly, I don't know who was faster. Anyway, I led the camel to the platform. I put him on there and pet his side.
"Sorry." I told him. Then I faced Fierce Fox. "Come on." We left the camel there and headed to the tower. From there, we could watch him get stolen. It felt extremely cruel, but how else could we enter the hideout? The forty thieves liked to be stealthy and quick. The camel doesn't like quick. He would reveal where the hideout is.
With that, Fierce Fox and I peered through the telescope. A thief appeared on the side. She threw a smoke bomb at the camel and tried to pull him away, but he didn't budge. The thief got an idea. She held out a banana, tempting the camel to follow her. He did so. The thief led him to a pool of water.
"Open sesame!" she said. A stone dragon head with its mouth wide open climbed out of the water. The thief, still leading the camel, entered the head. They were gone. And the head slipped back into the water.
"That's their hideout," I said. "Come on." Fierce Fox and I headed over to the water. I stood in it; it lapped at my ankles. "Open sesame." The head reappeared, water dripping off the sides. I gave Fierce Fox a glance. Then we headed inside.