Elena walked beside Isabel on a small platform just above the massive waterfall under their castle that lead to the ocean. "This is going to be quite a daunting task." Elena noted with amusement. "Constructing a huge water slide by yourself is sure going to be something."
"I'm not doing it by myself Elena." Isabel said with a laugh. "Abuelo already hired a crew to help with the construction." She held up the journal that her older sister had gotten her the day she had planned on being crowned queen. She could just see the inscription on it, To my little sister for all of your big ideas, Love Elena. She turned to the page that had the water slide schematics on it, it really took up two pages. "We're just following my blue prints."
"It's still a huge endeavor." Elena said. "All this for a friend's birthday." She stroked her sister's hair softly. "I can't wait to see what you do for my birthday." She teased.
"Well how about some ideas for that bridge for starters?" Isabel asked as she handed Elena a few pieces of paper, more blueprints. "Your first big project is coming up after all."
"Thanks Isa." Elena said, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. "Go see how your crew is doing, I'll be down soon." Isabel smiled, nodded and ran off. The crown princess watched her go. She had to admit that her little sister's epic water slide was a great idea. Although it was being done for a friend of Isabel's something like that was hardly circumspect and almost everyone was eager for a turn, including Elena and her friends.
"Elena!" Her best friend Naomi Turner called out as she came to join her friend. "It looks like this idea of Isabel's is going to be big splash." She laughed a little. "I mean, no pun intended." She became a bit more serious then. "We've cleared out shipping movements for the rest of the afternoon for it so no one will get hurt."
"Smart thinking Naomi." Elena complimented her.
"Spend enough time with your father as harbormaster, you pick up some points." Naomi replied.
The two watched the construction efforts for a moment and then Naomi said, "It still seems kind of dangerous to me Elena. This is a pretty high waterfall and if something were to happen someone could be seriously hurt here."
"I know what you mean." Elena promised her. "But I trust Isabel's plans. If she says it's safe then it's safe."
"Her plans can be as good as gold." Naomi replied. "But she's not doing all the construction. If even of these people do something wrong then we've got a huge problem. I mean I know they're professionals but we all make mistakes. It's just in this case a mistake could be fatal."
"Mateo is putting in some magical safeguards just in case." Elena said. "There might not be any way to anticipate everything but we're doing the best that we can." She placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry so much."
"Well at least the weather looks to be good for it." Naomi commented. "Not that we have a lot of bad days in Avalor." She looked at Elena now. "So how is Esteban doing?"
"He's doing okay." Elena said. "I think he's been trying to figure out how many of his memories are real and how many are fake from the last day." He had been marked with a thought marker from someone in Juan's employ and tried to kill Francisco because of a rivalry between her grandfather and one of Juan's ancestors. "Abuela is doing the best she can to help him, with some memory tea that Mateo found a recipe for."
The two girls started up toward the castle, passing a couple of people helping with the construction. They could see Gabe coming out of the castle with a few of the guards but when he glanced up at the girls Elena gave him a friendly wave that he returned eagerly.
"Gabe says this idea of Isa's is also kind of a security headache." Elena said to Naomi now. "Ever since we found out we had two spies in the castle he's been even more amped up about that."
"I can't blame him." Naomi replied. "How do you know there aren't more spies in the castle, or in the city for that matter?"
"We can't be sure." Elena answered simply. "But without proof I won't pursue anyone. A witch hunt can do just as much damage if not more so to Avalor than an actual spy could." Naomi found she couldn't argue that logic.
She was about to point out that it was good thinking for a good leader and that she doubted Juan wouldn't be so careful in her position when one of the construction workers dropped some tools. A screwdriver rolled around just as the two girls were heading up and then the next thing Naomi knew she was falling off the edge and toward the water. She heard Elena call out, "Naomi!" followed by a loud splash.
Naomi barely heard Elena, "We have to find out who did that Gabe. We need to be able to give them a proper thank you."
"I know Elena." Gabe said. "We're asking around but no one apparently saw a thing."
"What happened?" Naomi asked in a harsh whisper. Immediately Elena was over there with a glass of water for her friend as Gabe helped her to sit up. She took a sip gratefully and then repeated, "What happened?"
"One of the workers accidently dropped some tools." Elena explained to her. "You took a huge tumble off the edge and down into the water. We went to look for you and we…"
"We feared the worst." Gabe filled in with a small frown of worry. Then he brightened a little. "But we found you on the beach. You were out of it but you were breathing. We figure someone rescued you but we don't know who yet."
"You two aren't the only ones who want to give my rescuer a proper thank you." Naomi said. She tried to get up but Elena stopped her.
"Doctor Martinez will be in to check on you, make sure you're okay for sure." The crown princess said to her. "Until he gets here stay here and rest."
"Alright, fine." Naomi said with a roll of her eyes as she laid back down.
The crown princess and the royal guard stepped outside and Elena leaned against the wall and let out a sigh. "I'm telling you the only thing scarier than that was when Isa was kidnapped by Carlito and taken to Juan because of that portal thing." She confided to Gabe.
"I understand." Gabe said as he placed a hand on Elena's shoulders. "But you can't hold yourself responsible. There was no way you could have known or prevented that."
"I know that." Elena replied as she placed one of her hands over his and patted it softly. "It just doesn't stop the rush of fear or the adrenaline. I am glad that you were here to help though Gabe. Thanks."
"Anytime princess." Gabe said. The two of them stood like that for a moment as if lost before they heard footsteps, presumably that of Doctor Martinez, and the two quickly separated, both of their cheeks slightly red and their gazes were now everywhere but at each other. "Uh, anyway, I uh, should see how the search is going."
"Very good." Elena said perhaps a bit more formally than she had ever been in their time together but it was quickly shaken off. "I need to go let Isa know that Naomi is okay, she was really concerned about that. Abuelo had to convince her to keep focused on the project and that I would let her know something as soon as possible."
"Go ahead." Gabe said to her. "I'll update Doctor Martinez before checking on the search effort."
"Okay, see you later." Elena said and hurried off a little faster than she normally would have. She suddenly had some nervous energy to burn. She made her way outside quickly and down toward the waterfall bellow the castle.
Isabel was showing her blueprint to one of the workers when she saw Elena coming toward her. "Elena, is Naomi okay?" She asked her older sister.
"She's just fine Isa." Elena said as she knelt down in front of her little sister. "Gabe and the royal guards are trying to figure out who came to her rescue now." At her sister's confused look the crown princess hastened to explain, "We just found on her on the beach, somewhere she couldn't have gotten to on her own. Someone had to have took her there but we don't know who yet."
"I'm just glad she's okay." Isabel said. "That she didn't get hurt over this project." She glanced out at the half constructed waterslide. "Maybe I should cancel this project and find something else to do."
"No way Isabel." Elena rebuffed. "It was an accident plain and simple. Naomi wouldn't want you stop this over one accident. We'll start making sure that the toolboxes are reinforced to prevent anything like that from happening again."
Isabel nodded a bit though she seemed a bit uncertain. "Abuela says the food is almost ready. The construction on the waterslide should be finished in two hours at most. I guess it's almost time to get ready for the party then." She said.
"We're all looking forward to it, including Naomi." Elena promised sincerely. "We'll see you there."
The couple of hours passed and the royal guards had had no luck finding anyone who knew who had rescued Naomi. It was strange that no one was coming forward on that. Because of the informal circumstances and the fact it was basically a giant pool party most everyone was out of uniform, wearing basically shirts and shorts. Gabe was not looking forward to telling Elena they had nothing to go on.
"I hope Princess Elena has some kind of idea because right now we have no idea who helped Naomi." The royal guard was saying to the royal sorcerer of Avalor.
Mateo shrugged. "Maybe it's me but I don't get it." He admitted with a small shrug of his shoulders. "So someone doesn't want to come forward and admit they saved Naomi. They might not want the credit and everything that goes with it. Not everyone wants that kind of attention after all."
For a moment he couldn't help but wonder if Mateo had been the one to save Naomi before remembering that he had been in the city at that time. "I suppose when all is said and done you're not wrong." Gabe relented. "But I just feel that someone who did something like that should get some kind of recognition."
He turned to the castle and felt his breath slip away for a moment. "Speaking of recognition." He said in a near whisper as he saw Elena and Isabel come out of the castle. Elena had her hair completely down for the first time since he had met her, no ponytail or anything. She wore a tank top though it had on strap on the right shoulder and a pair of red shorts made of the same material as the outfit she wore when she went to Santa Los island with Esteban. Isabel's outfit was similar except in blue and lacked a left shoulder strap instead of a right one, but Gabe barely noticed that one.
"So what's the word?" Elena asked as she approached Gabe and Mateo with Isabel going ahead of them to greet her own friends.
"Very pretty." Gabe murmured and then quickly shook his head to regain focus. "Pretty grim, I mean. It seems as if whoever rescued Naomi isn't going to come forward. Mateo suggests that maybe they don't want to be acknowledged for what they did."
"I guess it is possible." Elena agreed.
"So where is Naomi?" Mateo asked the crown princess.
"Getting one last check up." Elena answered. "Doctor Martinez says that the odds of anyone taking a fall from that height without any sort of preparation and surviving are pretty slim. He wanted to make sure she was okay again." She spread her arms a bit. "So, shall we go get something to eat, enjoy the party?"
"I'll have to catch up with you later." Mateo said. "I have some last minute things to attend to for the waterslide." He waved and walked off.
"Okay, guess it's just you and me." Elena said to Gabe energetically.
"I really should be providing security…" He started a bit nervously.
"We've got plenty of people for that." She replied dismissively. She reached out and took his hand, not noticing this time the blush on his cheek. "Let's have some fun and then get some cake and some punch." She half dragged him over to the waterslide.
Being the crown princess had its privileges and despite the fact Elena didn't necessarily like it she couldn't refuse as most of the people who were waiting gladly let her and Gabe go first. She didn't necessarily catch onto the fact that some were starting to wonder if she and Gabe were starting to become an item.
Elena went down the waterslide with Gabe right behind her. It started out with a rush downhill before curving. What Elena hadn't seen from the brief glimpse of the plans was that the first curve actually passed through the large waterfall, dousing both the crown princess and her royal guard. The next involved a loop through the waterfall that Elena was sure only worked because of some spell Mateo had to have placed over it.
"So far it seems as if Isabel has certainly outdone herself." Gabe yelled after the loop.
"I know, this is so cool." Elena replied.
There were even more twists and turns through the waterfall though as they descended it started going around the waterfall rather than through it. There was even a triple twirl around one of the smaller portions before a sudden drop off at the end, no more than about two feet before landing in the waters of Avalor.
"Okay, that was kind of cool." Gabe allowed even though he had been trying to maintain an air of formality as an on duty royal guard despite Elena all but insisted otherwise.
"That was really great." Elena agreed with a giggle of delight. "Come on, Isabel collaborated with Mateo to make one of the stone rise to the top with people on it." They started toward him. "They quite knew what to call it though. Let's check out the buffet."
It turned out be a bit more than that after Elena saw her abuela's tamales. The two got a plate and sat near the edge watching as the people of Avalor, especially the children, took turns with Isabel's waterslide. "I don't care what abuelo says, abuela still does a far better job with these then me." She said with a smile.
"Good thing you're the crown princess and not the crown chef." Gabe joked. It was kind of a weak joke but Elena laughed a little anyway.
"It's a good thing the skies are supposed to stay so clear and blue today." Elena reflected as he unwrapped her second tamale. "I would hate to shut this party down. Everyone is having so much fun. It's also the first celebration we've been able to have since ousting Shuriki."
Gabe lifted up his glass of punch. "I think everyone needed this." He agreed and then after a moment added, "I think we needed this."
Elena looked to him with a slight twinkle in her eyes. "We needed this?" She asked teasingly.
She was rewarded with a flush in his cheeks. "I…I mean we as in all of us…you, me…I mean Naomi, Mateo, and myself. And Isabel and your grandparents and Esteban too. All that stuff lately with Juan and his little band or trouble makers." He hastened to explain.
"Ah, I see." Elena said with a giggle. "Makes perfect sense." Her expression sobered now as she sighed a bit. "I don't know what to do about that Gabe." She confessed. "Avalor can't possibly stay peaceful forever as long as they're doing what they're doing. But I can't force them to settle down either."
"Have you asked the chancellor what others have said about this?" Gabe asked her.
"No." Elena responded simply. "But you're right. I should bring this up at the grand council meeting tomorrow. There are one hundred thirty eight kingdoms around here, including ours and Enchancia. That doesn't include towns and cities. Someone else must have had some kind of problems with them."
"You'll figure something out Elena. You always do." Gabe said to her with a smile.
Elena now felt her cheeks heat up at the compliment. "And when that happens I know you'll do everything you can to help me make it so." She replied a bit shyly.
Gabe had never really had a hard time with courage or speaking his mind but somehow with Elena it seemed harder than normal. He was just about to tell her how pretty he thought she looked when some of her hair blew into her face. For a moment he felt the urge to laugh before she nearly toppled over and he reached out to catch her by the arms.
"What is going on?" Elena wondered before looking up to see huge gray storm clouds moving in from out of nowhere. "No way. This weather isn't right."
Before Gabe could respond thunder rumbled loudly, followed by a blast of lightning. The two stood up even as others started to react. "Rally the guards and get everyone into shelter right now." Elena ordered Gabe. She turned to the water slide and saw Mateo and several others already doing the same thing with the people there.
She was proud for a moment to see Isabel helping out too. Then the stone beneath her gave way from a quickly forming crack and she saw her little sister taking the same dive that her best friend had earlier. "Isa!" She screamed in horror.
"Get on!" She heard and was very surprised but just as relieved to see Skylar coming toward her. She did as the Jaquin instructed and the two dove down toward Isabel before Gabe could say anything one way or another.
Skylar flew as fast as he could toward the falling princess but couldn't quite get the speed they needed. After realizing what was going to happen Elena didn't hesitate. She leapfrogged off of Skylar's back and free fell toward her sister, grabbing her and pulling her close. "Hold on tight Isa." She instructed.
"Elena, Isabel!" Skylar called out and tried to get closer but a huge gust of wind actually forced him back further away.
Elena held onto Isabel tightly and prepared to brace for the impact against the water. That was when she noticed it started to swirl around in a cone shape before leaping up and wrapping around them. The impact wasn't as hard as she expected it to be and she looked around. And thought she saw why.
She saw a beautiful girl in the water, struggling to hold the shape of the cone and lower it. She then realized that below the waist was a fish tail. "A mermaid." Elena said softly. "There was a mermaid here."
"She doesn't look well." Isabel noted. "I hope it isn't because of us."
The crown princess saw the mermaid girl waver a bit and the water's shape started to go a moment. "Come on Isa." Elena said and slipped off the water cone, followed by Isabel. They made their way to her and it seemed as if she wanted to flee but lost consciousness.
"Elena, we can take her there." Isabel said to her sister as she pointed to a small grotto beside in the caves. The crown princess nodded and leaned down to bring the mermaid to safety only to realize that her tail was heavier than it looked.
"Elena!" Naomi yelled as she was running toward her with their two friends behind them.
"Gabe, Naomi, help me!" Elena exclaimed. "We need to get her into the grotto. I think she was the one who saved you earlier Naomi, just like she just did for Isabel and I." They didn't hesitate but a moment before moving into the ocean with Elena and together the three of them got her into the grotto, with Mateo and Isabel.
Mateo used his magic to heat up some the rocks so they could warm off while they let the storm pass. At least that was the plan. But it seemed like an hour had passed and the storm did not abate, nor did the mystery mermaid stir.
Then they heard someone yell out, "Princess Elena!" It was Esteban. They could just make him out with a dozen guards as they searched for their missing royalty. "Princess Isabel!"
"We're over here!" Isabel called out. "We need a stretcher!"
Esteban hurried over to the, body posture conveying worry. Until he saw that both princesses were fine. "What is going on?" He asked.
"We need a stretcher for her." Elena said to her cousin. "She fell unconscious after she rescued Isabel and I. She had to have done the same thing for Naomi earlier." She explained to him.
Esteban let out a weary sigh but instructed four of the guards to return to the castle for a stretcher. He then turned back to see that Elena had set the mermaid girls head in her lap as Isabel held her hand. They were both clearly worried; Gabe placed his hands on Elena's shoulders while Naomi stroked Isabel's back softly, also worried for their rescuer.
In a few minutes the guards returned with the stretcher and lifted the mermaid girl onto it. Then they took her to castle. "We're going to have Doctor Martinez look at her." Mateo said. "But we need to place her somewhere else because she has to stay hydrated."
"I know just the place." Elena said. She lead them to a small private pool area that rarely got any use since things had not quite recovered enough in Avalor for that.
"Princess Elena, you must come with us." Esteban said to her. "The grand council needs to start assessing the damage done."
"Go ahead, I'll stay with her." Isabel said to Elena. Then she looked down. "I'm sorry for all of this trouble Elena."
Elena knelt down in front of her sister. "You didn't cause any trouble. The storm did." She assured her and hugged her softly. "And this wasn't supposed to happen; we all saw it was supposed to be a clear day today."
"I'll look into it while you're doing your damage assessment." Mateo said to Elena. The crown princess nodded her thanks.
She then looked to Gabe. "Stay with Isabel please." She requested and Gabe nodded. Things had suddenly seemed to turn too dire for him to focus on how the crown princess looked to him now. "And I'm sure Kara is on her way too."
Kara did show up and was lugging Isabel's journal with her, which the young princess appreciated. The doctor declared she was physically fit, at least as far as he could tell since he had not worked with mermaids and that she just needed to rest and recover her energy. It seemed like hours passed and as Isabel was working on water slide diagram to make sure she hadn't made any mistakes they heard the water splashing a little. She looked up to see that the mermaid girl was moving. She set her journal aside.
"Where am I? What's going on?" She asked and then noticed Isabel and Kara. "What?"
"It's okay." Isabel said reassuringly. "We brought you out of the storm so that you could recover in peace. You saved me and my sister, and I think our friend earlier. My name is Isabel Flores, a princess of Avalor."
"Sonya." The mermaid girl replied softly. "I…I need help…I…" She seemed to lose her train of thought a moment. "I don't feel so well."
"Kara, tell Gabe to let everyone know our guest is awake." Isabel requested of her friend. "And that she's asked for help."
