Chapter 25 – Deep Sea Trouble
Having gotten over the sensation of tackling the massive kraken, the Knights of the Dawn pressed onwards across the ocean floor. They had seated their merfolk bodies on the backside of Mariana, except for Raxtus, who was sitting normally, and continued to ride to Tritanoss' supposed coordinates.
"We really mustn't waste any more time," said Bright. "Even if we do make it before Tritanoss is awakened, we still may not have what it takes to defeat the Society if we run into them."
"Hey, it wasn't Mariana's fault that the kraken attacked us!" blurted Seth. "What was she supposed to do?"
"I'm not blaming anymore," noted Bright. "All I'm saying is that we should do everything in our power to avoid more conflicts like that."
"But that was a surprise," said Kendra.
"We can't risk any more surprises," said Warren. "All we can do about that is to be extra careful."
"How much further?" asked Seth, trying to make out the area ahead of them.
"Not too much longer," answered Warren. "Thanks to Mariana's speed, we'll be getting there sooner than I anticipated."
"What do we do if the Society spots us?" asked Seth.
"Mariana might have what it takes to counter Ashley," said Kendra. "As a dragon, Ashley wouldn't have a size advantage, nor can she breathe fire underwater."
"Our real concern would be with Oblivion," said Clover. "I don't want to know just how powerful he's actually gotten."
"I am not convinced that a demon, allegedly one as powerful as Tritanoss, would succumb to someone like Oblivion," said Seth. "Even if he is a sorcerer with increased power."
"You saw how Ashley's able to assume a dragon form," said Bright. "A near impossibility amongst humans, no matter how much they've harnessed their magical training."
"And even we don't understand the true potential of Kendra's fairykind magic," said Clover.
"I don't even want to imagine what Oblivion's got planned with that power," said Bright.
After riding on Mariana for several more minutes, the group eventually spotted peculiar creatures approaching them from the front.
"What are those things?" asked Seth.
"They look like... seahorses!" said Kendra, making out the figures of the creatures.
"Aren't seahorses a lot smaller?" asked Seth. "These things are large enough to be real horses!"
Before anyone could come up with a witty response, the six giant seahorses, all of which sported a mermaid or merman riding on their backsides, swam up to where the group was, prompting Mariana to stop in place. Although the seahorses were all yellow, the merfolk's lower bodies came in a rainbow of colors.
"State your business," said the one of the mermen, whose lower body was red. Like his cohorts, he appeared to be clenching a harpoon in his hands.
"They're not from around here, are they?" asked one of the mermaids, who sported a purple lower body.
"Tell us," said the red merman, "why are you riding atop a leviathan in a restricted area? For that matter, why are you riding a leviathan? And is that a dragon with you?"
"Pretty small for a dragon," said another merman.
"We can explain," said Warren. "But tell us, who are you guys?"
The merfolk all laughed. "Don't kid with us," said the red one. "We'd arrest you right now if you didn't have that leviathan on your side."
"Are you... police?" asked Kendra.
"Lot of weird stuff has been going on today," said a mermaid with a bronze lower body.
"Will someone explain what's going on?" asked Seth.
"I'm afraid we must confess," said Bright. "We are not from around here."
"Normally we wouldn't have a problem with outside merfolk coming to visit," said the red merman. "But bringing a leviathan and a dragon with you? I thought the first group was enough."
"First group?"
"Yeah," said the green mermaid, "a group of, what're they called? Humans! "Came all the way down here in these giant bubbles!"
"Humans?" gasped Kendra. "No! It's the Society!"
"The what?" asked the blue merman. "You know those humans?"
"Look, there's no time to explain," exclaimed Warren. "The Society of the Evening Star is a group of humans bent on world domination! They want to awaken Tritanoss so they..."
"Awaken Tritanoss?" asked the red merman. "Are they serious?"
"Yes, they're serious!" snapped Bright. "We came all this way just to stop them!"
"I don't know if you even can," said the golden mermaid. "If our trained mega ray couldn't stand up to them, what hope does that leviathan have?"
"What happened with your mega ray?" asked Warren.
"It only happened minutes ago, but news travels fast," said the green mermaid. One of the humans mysteriously turned the poor mega ray to stone with little effort. Then another human turned into a dragon and shattered the poor thing."
"Then what?" asked Warren.
"Knowing that they couldn't stand up to those humans, the other guards returned to Aquaton and alerted the city. We also sent out a kraken to seek out anymore intruders, but told it to be extremely careful.
Kendra knew exactly what the others were thinking, and smartly chose not to say anything on the matter.
"Anyway," said the red merman, "we need to quarantine the area as best as possible and evacuate in case those humans really do awaken Tritanoss."
"Well, we need to get through if we want to have any chance of stopping them," said Warren.
"We aren't too keen on the idea of letting in strangers into city in a time of emergency," said the purple mermaid. "How do we know you aren't on the same side as the humans?"
"Look, just let us in!" exclaimed Seth. "We need to get through!"
"It's too dangerous!" said one of the mermen. "We insist that you go no further."
"We hate to be intrusive, but this is an emergency!" blurted Warren.
"Which is exactly why you may not pass!" shouted the red merman, whose seahorse barged right up before Warren's face.
"Leave him alone!" snapped Seth. Mariana poked her head down towards the merfolk guards and snarled in agreement.
"How dare you threaten us!" snapped the red merman. He then grabbed a conch shell that Kendra and Seth failed to notice he had been wearing around his shoulders like a necklace, and blew into it like a flute.
There was a loud whistle, but nothing appeared to have happened.
"Wow," said Seth sarcastically. "I was expecting something a little more Under the Sea-ish from that."
"Um, Seth," muttered Kendra. "Look."
Seth looked behind the mermen and watched as a gigantic creature, which could best be described as some sort of lobster, climbed over a hill, heading towards the group.
"Under no circumstance are you to let these outsiders pass," said the red merman to the huge lobster. Kendra wasn't quite sure what it was. It looked like a lobster, sporting long antennae, but its tail was clearly that of a scorpion's. Its carapace a blend of brown, maroon and black.
The lobster, which nearly rivaled Mariana in size, scattered over past the merfolk and towards the group. Almost instinctively, Mariana swam in front of the knights, barricading them from the lobster.
"Get back!" shouted one of the mermen.
"We don't have time for this!" exclaimed Warren. "Call off your lobster thing and just let us through!"
"Lobster thing?" asked one of the mermen. "It's a thermidorpion, and it wants you to leave. Now."
The thermidorpion responded by clenching Mariana's body with one of its pincers and clamping down on it. Mariana responded by growling in pain, and lunged her head at the thermidorpion.
"Leave our leviathan alone!" screamed Kendra.
Her tail still caught in the thermidorpion's pincer, Mariana clenched her jaw around her attacker's arm and bit down on it. However, her teeth were unable to penetrate the creature's hard protective shell.
"Threaten us more and our thermidorpion will attack the rest of your group," said the red merman.
"How do we stop that stupid thing?" asked Seth.
"I... don't know," said Kendra. "It's got a sturdy shell. Even Mariana's monstrous teeth couldn't crack it."
"I can't help but think about that time when Mom and Dad took us to that seafood restaurant, and we both had lobster," said Seth.
"Seth, this is no time to think about some stupid dinner!" blurted Kendra, who was afraid that the thermidorpion would make a lunge at her with its other claw, the first one fighting to pin down Mariana's body.
"If we don't do something quick, we'll be dinner!" yelled Warren.
"And our magic won't work on a monster like that!" said Bright.
"Poor Mariana can't even crack that shell." noted Clover.
"We had to use special crackers to break open parts of our lobsters," said Seth. "Except for its underside. I was able to break it with my fingers."
"That so?" asked Raxtus, as he swam towards the thermidorpion. Due to Raxtus' relatively small size, the thermidorpion barely even noticed him.
"What is that puny dragon trying to do?" asked one of the mermen.
Raxtus swam under the thermidorpion's legs and proceeded to claw up through the oversized crustacean's stomach.
"That thing is poisonous!" exclaimed one of the merman, as a strange black ooze began to seep out of the thermidorpion's stomach where Raxtus was.
"My healing ability neutralizes the effect of poison," said Raxtus, as he swam away from the bleeding thermidorpion. It then released its grip on Mariana, lost its balance, and collapsed on the ocean floor.
"What did you do?" cried one of the mermen.
"Your stupid lobster attacked our leviathan," said Seth.
"Guys, I think Mariana's hurt," said Kendra, pointing to the wounds on the leviathan's body where the thermidorpion had clenched her.
"She's been poisoned," said Warren. "That thing probably has stingers in its pincers.
"Let me handle it," said Raxtus, as he swam over to Mariana's wounds. He then opened his mouth and exerted a white, misty substance onto the wounds, cuasing them to close up almost instantly.
"Moving right along..." said Warren, as he turned to face the imposing merfolk and their seahorses.
"Attacking a guardian of Aquaton is not going to get you on our good side," said the red merman fiercely. He then picked up his conch shell again and prepared to blow into it. However, before it could touch his lips, the shell vanished from his hands.
"What happened?" asked the red merman, feeling around for his necklace. "It just disappeared into thin water!"
"You're not calling in more cronies," said Bright, as she swam onto Mariana's back. "Come on, let's continue."
"You're with the humans!" said one of the mermaids.
"But we're the good guys!" retorted Warren.
"We must return to Aquaton and alert everyone who's still there to flee," said the red merman.
"Are you proud of yourself?" asked another merman. "Thanks to you invaders, we need to abandon our city because of you."
"It's not like that!" cried Kendra, as the merfolk all rode off on their seahorses. She then moaned. "Why wouldn't they listen to us?"
"They're under enough stress right now with the Society's invasion that they didn't even care about our story," said Bright.
"Look on the bright side," said Warren, "now the path is free."
"Bright side," said Seth, looking at the mermaid-turned fairy. "I like it."
"Don't use the term bright side unless I say it's okay," said Bright. "I mean it. It really bugs me when people use it around me."
As soon as everyone had boarded Mariana's backside, the leviathan swam off in the direction the mermen had retreated in on their seahorses.
"Good thing Mariana's on our side," said Seth. "I don't think we could ever swim at this speed."
"I just hope that having Mariana on our side isn't what intimidated those guards into thinking we were the enemy," said Warren. "As useful as she's been, having a big, ferocious monster on your side can have its drawbacks."
Before long, Mariana came across a massive cliff, where she came to an abrupt halt.
"Great," said Seth. "We're lost."
"Warren, are you sure Tritanoss is here?" asked Kendra.
"My directions go hand-in-hand with the path those guards took. But it's not like Rand McNally had a map I could've bought for a situation like this."
"We should just swim over this cliff," said Seth. "What's there to stop us?"
"Over there!" said Kendra, pointing off to the side of the cliff. "There's a large opening in the wall."
Mariana noticed the nearby opening that Kendra has spotted, and swam over to it. It appeared to be a fissure, just wide enough for Mariana to swim through without straining her body.
Mariana poked her head into the fissure and proceed to swim through it. The fissure wasn't terribly deep, and the leviathan soon emerged from the other end. From first glance, it appeared to be an underwater valley of some sort.
"What is this place?" asked Kendra, glancing around the valley. The place appeared to the size of a large park, and was completely surrounded by a circular wall, of which the fissure was a part of. Many oblong domes, which had holes crafted into them to serve as doorways and windows, struck Kendra as being the homes of merfolk. Coral, seaweed and various rock formations littered the landscape in spots where domes had not been erected.
"It's Aquaton," said Warren. "What those merfolk were trying to protect. And apparently, it must be where Tritanoss lies."
"What's with the empty plateau thing in the middle?" asked Seth, pointing to a raised area with no apparent domes built upon it. The plateau appeared to be roughly the same size as the yard back at Fablehaven.
"That must be where Tritanoss is resting," said Warren.
Seth admired the massive plateau from afar, not wanting to imagine the thought of a massive demon lying somewhere beneath it.
"Let me get this straight," said Seth. "Oblivion really thinks he can awaken Tritanoss? Now that I've seen his resting place with my own eyes, I don't see how on Earth Oblivion has any hope of fulfilling the requirements needed to awaken Tritanoss."
"I know what you mean," said Warren. "For crying out loud, we're at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean!"
"Where is Oblivion, anyway?" asked Kendra.
"Or anybody?" asked Seth. "This place looks deserted."
"They've must've all fled," said Clover. "We've already taken out two of their protective creatures ourselves, who knows what the Society's done on their end."
"I didn't like that we had to fight those creatures," said Kendra. "Not because we couldn't beat them, but because they were forced to fight us, and we had to defeat them to move on. It didn't feel right."
"There was nothing we could do," said Bright. "Being fairykind, you instinctively agree with our anti-violence philosophy. You depend on kindness over aggression."
"Too bad being a goody-two-shoes won't impress heartless beings like the Society and Tritanaoss," said Seth.
"Don't speak too soon," said Kendra. "Get back in the fissure, Mariana! Please!"
With everybody still seated on her back, Mariana retreated back into the fissure tail first, until only her head was left poking out.
"What?" asked Seth.
"The Society! Approaching from above!"
Seth looked up along with the others, and could see several figures, inside what appeared to be bubbles, floating down towards Aquaton from above. From such a distance, it was hard to make them out. But there appeared to be four figures, one of which was undoubtedly Oblivion; his black robe gave him away.
"What do we do?" asked Kendra. "They've come this far. No doubt Oblivion's going to stop at nothing to accomplish his goal of awakening Tritanoss."
"You heard what that mermaid said about how they defeated that mega ray," said Clover. "Turning it to stone and then smashing it? Imagine if they did that to us. Even Mariana wouldn't stand a chance."
"What if they saw us?" asked Raxtus, who proceeded to render himself invisible. However, as they were underwater, it was still possible to see the indentation that Raxtus' transparent body made in the water. However, it made for much better camouflage than not having the ability at all.
"We need a plan," said Kendra, as the Society had almost reached Aquaton. "Fast."
"I'm afraid I don't have any ideas," said Seth disappointingly. "If only I was smarter."
"We've still got the Translocator, if anybody wants out," said Warren.
"No way," said Seth. "We came all this way. We know what we have to go up against. I see no need to turn back now. I know that we don't stand much of a chance, but we have to try. Even if we aren't powerful enough to defeat the Society, we can at least make an attempt to sabotage whatever plan it is that Oblivion has to awaken Tritanoss."
"Could we maybe use the Translocator to get some backup?" asked Kendra. "Even if just one of us goes?"
"We don't have time for that," said Warren. "Even with the power to travel instantly, we'd all accomplish more down here now then going elsewhere trying to recruit help."