Alex and Conner cross into the Fairy Kingdom, where the grass is a verdant green and the water sparkles. They pass a herd of unicorns, which stops grazing to bow to them, leaving the twins confused. The journal says collecting fairy tears is difficult, since fairies rarely become emotional enough to cry, and Alex finds a bottle in the book’s spine to hold the tears. The twins hear a sniffling sound and come across a fairy sitting by the path, crying. They can’t believe they actually found a crying fairy without even trying because “Nothing has been this easy” (265).

The fairy’s name is Trix, and she’s crying because she goes on trial before the Fairy Council soon and is scared she’ll be banished from the kingdom. Another fairy was teasing her for being so small, and she used magic on him, something fairies aren’t supposed to do. Alex dries Trix’s tears without collecting one, so Conner says some scary things to make the fairy cry again and catches a tear in the bottle. Alex offers to go to the trial with Trix. Trix thanks them and leads the way to the fairy palace.

The palace is an open-air structure made of golden arches and pillars.