“Bittersweet chocolate!” she cried.
Cocoa’s heart began to race. Her magic wand was gone? Raina’s words rang in Cocoa’s head. “If wands get into the wrong hands, there can be trouble.”
The first sour thought that came into Cocoa’s head was of the salty old troll Mogu. Mogu lived under the bridge in Black Licorice Swamp and was always on the hunt for Candy Fairy candy. He had even stolen Cocoa’s prized chocolate eggs from their nest in Chocolate Woods. Cocoa’s wings fluttered as she remembered her journey to Black Licorice Swamp with Princess Lolli. The princess had been brave as well as clever, and together, the two fairies had outsmarted that old troll. Would he have tried to steal from her again?
Cocoa rushed outside and called for the sugar flies. She had to get messages to her friends quickly. Sugar flies could be gossips, but they were also good for getting messages to friends in a hurry.
Dashing off notes to her friends, Cocoa instructed the flies to deliver the urgent messages. Cocoa knew it was late, but she asked her friends to meet her back at Red Licorice Lake. Since that was the last time she’d seen the wand, she figured she would begin her search there.
After the sugar flies took flight, Cocoa flew to the Sun Dip meeting spot. She hoped that on her way she’d spot the wand. Even though the moonlight was bright, Cocoa didn’t see any candy jewels glittering on the ground. All that hard work—and all that chocolate magic! Cocoa was melting inside. How could she have been so careless? She should have double-checked her bag!
At Red Licorice Lake, Cocoa took a peppermint light from her pocket. She held the candy up as she searched the red sugar sand beach.
Not a trace of her wand.
Cocoa sat down on the cool red sugar sand. The valley was dark, and most fairies were home getting ready for bed. Her wings drooped as she thought about having to tell Princess Lolli her wand had been lost. A magic wand gone missing was not something to take lightly. She’d have to tell her. If Mogu had gotten hold of the wand, there was no telling what would happen! The Sugar Ball would be canceled. All of Sugar Valley would be in danger. A troll with a magic wand … She didn’t even want to think about it.
Cocoa pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her head. She hoped that the sugar flies had delivered her messages quickly and that her friends would come soon. Maybe together they’d be able to figure out what to do.
Glancing up, Cocoa saw a thick licorice stalk in front of her. She squinted in the moonlight, unsure of what she was looking at. What was on the top of the stalk? She stood up and flew to the top of the licorice.
It was covered in chocolate syrup!
Someone definitely found the wand here, Cocoa thought. The wand must have fallen out as soon as she took flight! Flying around the stalk, Cocoa wondered why someone would have aimed at the licorice stalk. She floated back down to the ground, searching for more clues. If she followed the chocolate clues, she’d find the wand!
She wasn’t sure her plan would work, but she knew one thing. Sure as sugar, she needed all her friends to help her!
Spreading Chocolate
Cocoa!” Melli cried. She swooped down and knelt near her friend. “Oh, Cocoa, what is going on?” She took a deep breath. “I saw chocolate puddles everywhere as I flew from Caramel Hills!”
Looking up at her friend, Cocoa’s lip quivered. She didn’t want to burst into tears, so she looked back down at her knees. “My wand …,” she began.
Melli’s hand was on her back. “Oh, Cocoa. You worked so hard on that wand.” And then she took a quick breath as she realized what this news meant. “And now someone has chocolate power!” she gasped.
“Licking lollipops!” Berry blurted out when she saw her friends. “What is going on here tonight? There’s a chocolate explosion around here. You should see Fruit Chew Meadow! Those candy chews are going to need a power wash to get back to their fruity glory.”
“There’s chocolate in Fruit Chew Meadow, too?” Cocoa asked. She shook her head. This was worse than she had thought. Someone was definitely using the wand—someone who didn’t understand the magic of chocolate.
“Strange,” Berry said. She tapped her finger to her chin. “It’s like there’s a chocolate spell on Sugar Valley or something.”
“And that spell is so mint!” Dash announced as she flew in from over the licorice stalks. “These peppermints are delicious with the chocolate sprayed on them. What a minty cool idea.” She popped a chocolate-covered candy in her mouth and then licked her fingers.
“Dash!” Melli scolded. “This isn’t a joke. Cocoa’s magic wand has been stolen!”
“Not stolen, exactly,” Cocoa said sadly. “My wand fell out of my bag when I left Sun Dip.” She couldn’t keep back her tears anymore. “And now this is all my fault! Raina warned me about making a magic wand.”
Cocoa’s friends all gasped. A gentle breeze blew and fluttered their wings as the fairies stood in silence.
“Oh, this doesn’t look good,” Raina said as she joined her friends. She looked at Cocoa. “I came as soon as I got the message. What happened?”
“Please tell me you know a story in the Fairy Code Book about a magic wand that gets into the wrong hands,” Cocoa pleaded. She held up her bag and stuck her fingers in the hole. “My wand fell out after I left Sun Dip.”
“Hot caramel,” Melli muttered. “This is really a sticky situation.” Then she realized why Cocoa was so upset. “Do you think Mogu could have picked up the wand?”
“Mogu can’t make chocolate,” Berry argued. “He’s a troll.”
“No, but if he is holding a magic wand that was made by a chocolate fairy,” Raina said, thinking out loud, “then it might be possible.”
Cocoa jumped up from the ground. “What do you mean, might be possible?” She grabbed Raina’s hand. “You mean in all the stories you’ve ever read, you’ve never come across this?” She hung her head. “Oh, this is really bad.”
Raina paced back and forth on the red sugar sand. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m thinking.”
The fairies all watched Raina. They weren’t used to seeing her flustered. Raina was always so sure and logical. And usually she could quote a line from the Fairy Code Book that would solve their problem.
“But Raina always knows the answer!” Dash blurted out.
Berry and Melli shot her a look, but Dash just shrugged.
“Raina said it might be possible,” Berry said. “Maybe there’s hope that Mogu couldn’t make this chocolate mess.”
“That’s a chance we can’t take,” Cocoa said. She stood up. “We need to follow the chocolate trail. Tracking the clues is the only way to find the wand.”
Raina nodded. “Cocoa’s right. Let’s try to figure out where the wand is …”
“And who has it,” Berry finished for her.
“What if Mogu did take the wand?” Melli asked. She shivered as she thought of the old troll having chocolate power. “What a gooey mess we’re in! And right before the Sugar Ball.”
“It’s my mess,” Cocoa said. “I’m going to fly north toward Candy Castle. From your reports, the chocolate seems to be spreading in that direction.”
“You are not going alone,” Melli said, standing next to her.
“Sure as sugar, we’re all going with you,” Raina added.
Dash and Berry nodded. And they all leaned in to hug Cocoa.
“Thank you,” Cocoa managed to say. “This means so much to me. I can’t bear the thought of facing Princess Lolli with another chocolate mess.”
“Don’t get your wings stuck in syrup yet,” Berry teased. “We can solve this mystery.”
Together, the fairies flew to Candy Castle. The pink-and-white sugarcoated castle glistened in the moonlight. The frosted towers and iced tips of the castle looked the same as always. She sighed, relieved that there wasn’t a blanket of chocolate covering the castle or the Royal Gardens.
“Doesn’t look like there is any chocolate out of place here,” Cocoa said.
“Look over there,” Raina whispered, pointing. “It’s Tula, Princess Lolli’s adviser. I wonder what she’s doing in the gardens so late at night.”
“She’s talking to a bunch of Sour Orchard Fairies,” Berry said. Berry had once been scared to go to Sour Orchard. She had to find Lemona the Sour Orchard Fairy, who had created the heart-shaped candies Berry found by Chocolate River. After Berry met her, she found out that those fairies weren’t so different from Berry and her friends. Berry squinted her eyes. “I think that might even be Lemona!”
Just then Tula flew into the castle, and Lemona was left standing in the gardens.
“I’m going to ask her what’s going on,” Berry said. Before Cocoa or the others could react, Berry was at Lemona’s side. And then in a flash, Berry was back with news.
“Lemona said that the Sour Orchard was covered in chocolate syrup. Princess Lolli is very concerned about the chocolate mess. She said she’ll cancel the Sugar Ball! There can’t be a royal celebration when so many parts of the kingdom are under a chocolate spell.”
“Oh, this means we’re in hot chocolate,” Cocoa mumbled. She twisted a strand of her long, dark hair around her finger.
“We need to break this spell immediately!” Berry shouted.
“But first we need to find out who has the wand,” Cocoa added quietly.
Chocolate Bash
The place Cocoa wanted to check first was Gummy Forest. Raina hadn’t seen any chocolate in the forest before she got Cocoa’s message, so maybe that was the next place for a chocolate attack. If Cocoa and her friends followed the chocolate, they’d find the wand. And right now Cocoa knew they had to find that wand before all of Sugar Valley was put under a thick, gooey spell!
The moonlight made Gummy Forest look different. Even though Cocoa had been there many times, in the dark the gummy trees and bushes took on spooky shapes. There were chocolate puddles along the ground, and random flowers and berries were chocolate-covered.
Whoever had the wand didn’t really know how to handle it—or the magic. The syrupy chocolate was aimed all over the place, and not with a real purpose, the way a Chocolate Fairy would use the wand. Cocoa sighed as she flew through the trees hoping to find her next clue. She had never seen Gummy Forest in such a state. Looking over at Raina, she saw her Gummy Fairy friend was trying to be brave.
“Once we find the wand, I promise to help clean up this mess,” Cocoa told Raina. “I am so sorry.”
Raina glanced over at Cocoa as they flew. “It’s not your fault,” Raina said. “The wand falling out of your bag was an accident.”
Cocoa lowered her head. She still felt responsible for the chocolate mess.
And then she saw something that made her heart stop.
In a hammock between two large gummy trees, Cocoa spotted Mogu. She froze and put her hand up to alert her friends. The five fairies huddled in the air just above the troll. Mogu was just as Cocoa had remembered him: lying down stuffing his mouth full of chocolate. His hands and face were stained with dark splotches of chocolate, and his large nose was sniffing a chocolate-covered gummy flower. He was making loud slurping sounds as he ate all the chocolate around him.
Cocoa took a deep breath. She tried to summon all the courage that she could. After watching Princess Lolli in Black Licorice Swamp, she knew she had to be brave as well as clever to trick this hungry old troll. She motioned for her friends to stay where they were, and she got ready to fly down to face Mogu.
Melli grabbed her hand. “Do you want me to go with you?” she asked.
Cocoa shook her head. “No, I need to do this alone. It’s my chocolate wand, and I’m going to get it back.”
Her friends all exchanged looks, but they knew that when Cocoa got stuck on an idea, that was the end of the discussion.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’ve talked to Mogu before. This time, I know what I need to do. Besides, I know you are right behind me.”
“Sure as sugar,” Melli said, smiling.
Cocoa flew down to the hammock and took a deep breath.
“Mogu,” Cocoa said as she landed next to him. She was surprised at how calm and sure she sounded.
“Ah, the little Chocolate Fairy!” Mogu said. “Bah-haaaaa,” he laughed. “I see you have been busy. I love what you’ve added to this place. I always thought this forest needed a little more chocolate.”
Mogu’s ring of white hair around his head was sticking up. And his dark, beady eyes were wide with greed. Cocoa tried to steady her breath. She felt as if there was a fire in her belly, heating her up.
Be calm, she thought.
“What are you doing here?” Cocoa asked.
“I’m having an old chocolate bash,” Mogu laughed. “What does it look like I’m doing? These chocolate-covered gummy berries are pretty, pretty good.” He licked his fingers. “Bahha-ha-haaaaaaa!”
Cocoa stared at Mogu. He seemed to be on the verge of eating too much chocolate. He didn’t look scary. His stomach looked too full of chocolate to allow him to get up. And he had that crazed chocolate gaze in his eyes that she remembered from when she and Princess Lolli had gone to Black Licorice Swamp. He was close to going into a chocolate slumber. Cocoa hoped that wasn’t too far off. Then she could search for the wand without his noticing.
“I never would have thought to cover these candies in chocolate!” Mogu said with a loud burp. He reached his hand down and scooped up a bunch more berries.
Cocoa shot her friends a look. Maybe Mogu was eating the chocolate, not making the chocolate. She scanned the area and didn’t see the wand anywhere. Suddenly Cocoa was encouraged. A lost wand was one thing, but it was another thing if a sour troll had it. And the only thing Mogu seemed to have was a chocolate appetite!
“Maybe you’d like some more chocolate?” Cocoa asked.
She could tell her friends were confused by her offer, but Cocoa suddenly felt very confident.
“Bah-ha-haaaaaaaa!” Mogu laughed. “I would love that!”
“Well, if you had a magic wand, you could make your own chocolate,” Cocoa said. She watched Mogu’s face carefully. “You wouldn’t need a fairy to make the candy for you.”
Mogu stopped eating and stared at Cocoa. “What a big idea from such a small fairy,” Mogu muttered. “I want one of those!”
“I bet you would,” Cocoa said, smiling. She was so relieved that Mogu didn’t have the wand that she touched a gummy flower and gave the candy a rich, dark chocolate shell with chocolate sprinkles. “Here,” she said. She handed the greedy troll the special treat. “Try this.”
Mogu ate the candy as Cocoa flew up to her friends. “Mogu doesn’t have the wand!” she exclaimed.
“Why’d you give him more candy?” Dash blurted out.
“Because the faster Mogu falls asleep, the sooner he’ll stop eating all of Gummy Forest!” Cocoa said, winking at Dash.
“And we’ve got work to do. We can’t spend all day troll-sitting!” Raina said.
Cocoa was thankful to have her friends around her. Together, they would find a way to stop this chocolate spell from spreading all over Sugar Valley.
Chocolate Storm
The five fairies watched Mogu sleeping. His mouth fell open, and he began snoring loudly. His chocolate-covered hands dangled off the hammock. With each breath he took, his big belly went up and down. Cocoa was right. The greedy troll’s chocolate slumber had begun.
“Now Mogu won’t eat all of Gummy Forest!” Raina declared happily. She sent a sugar fly to Candy Castle with news of Mogu’s appearance in the forest. The Royal Fairy Guards would safely fly the sleeping Mogu back to Black Licorice Swamp. The troll would not be eating any more of the Candy Fairies’ candy for a while.
Meanwhile the five friends flew back to Raina’s home. They needed a place to think and figure out what to do next.
“Before we start following clues all over Sugar Valley, we need to figure out a plan,” Berry said.
Cocoa knew her levelheaded
friend was right, but she was anxious to sget out and see if there were more chocolate clues. She couldn’t help but feel this chocolate mess was all her fault. The faster she found the wand, the faster this would all be over.
“Raina, maybe we should see if anything like this has ever happened in Sugar Valley before,” Melli said. “I know you said that you couldn’t remember anything in the Fairy Code Book, but maybe we can help you look.” She glanced over at the wall of books in Raina’s room.
“I’m thinking,” Raina replied. She was staring at her large bookcase. “There might be something in one of these books.” She flew up to the top shelf and then glided back down with three yellow books in her hands. “I remember some kind of chocolate storm. It’s barely mentioned in the Fairy Code Book, but maybe the story is in here.”
“Why isn’t the story in the Fairy Code Book?” Dash asked, peering over her shoulder.
Raina shrugged. “Sometimes there is more to a story than the Fairy Code Book records,” she said. She opened up one of the yellow books. Dust flew from the covers. “Sweet sugar!” she said, blowing away the dust. “I guess I haven’t opened this in a while!”
“Are these stories all true?” Cocoa asked.
“I believe that they are,” Raina said. “And I think I just found the chocolate storm story!”
Cocoa raced forward to sit next to Raina. All the fairies huddled around as Raina began to tell the story. The way Raina read the story, it felt as if they were all there.
“The sky was filled with dark clouds, and all the fairies in Sugar Valley knew that a winter storm was coming,” Raina read. “All the sugar flies were buzzing with the news of terrible weather. Fairies snuggled inside and prepared for the winter storm.”
“Yum. I bet they were all drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows!” Dash blurted out. “And the slopes on the Frosted Mountains must have been so mint!”
The Sugar Ball Page 2