After recuperating from their escape from the cave, Orca, Torrent, and Griffin headed back to the Deep Palace. The way back was silent. None of them wanted to discuss what had occurred, so they kept their thoughts to themselves.
Torrent thought back to the raving NightWing. She sounded completely bonkers, but what if she was right? What if there was no way to help Orca, and it was already too late? He remembered what Sunscorcher had said: She would have hurt other dragons, and I couldn't let that happen. Did that mean Orca was going to hurt dragons, too? Torrent looked to his sister, who was also deep in thought. No, she wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose, would she?
The image of Sunscorcher's crushed skull was still fresh in Orca's mind. That was entirely her doing. Orca didn't have to kill Sunscorcher, did she? She could've done something else, like enchanting Sunscorcher to become tiny or something. Orca could enchant something like that, couldn't she? Or maybe enchant rocks to fall in front of Sunscorcher, not on top of her. It was entirely her choosing to kill Sunscorcher. She had said it herself when she made the enchantment: she wanted them to kill Sunscorcher. Orca looked back at Torrent. Does he know that I caused the cave to collapse? Maybe he just thinks it was the NightWing's fault. I'll keep it that way for now.
It was just past sunset by the time the three returned to the Deep Palace. Orca looked at the palace from afar. There were still dragons swimming around, going about their usual business. It would be difficult to sneak Griffin back in. Orca looked down to the seafloor. Patches of kelp grew along it, scrambling up to the surface for light. While they weren't large enough to hide a dragonet the size of Torrent or Orca, they were plenty large enough for the small Griffin.
Griffin, stay behind me, Orca flashed. She went ahead, scouting out the path most devoid of SeaWings. Suddenly, she saw three dragons coming towards them. She gulped when she saw who they were.
Coral and Gill swam out towards Orca and Torrent, while Griffin burrowed himself into the kelp, making him invisible to the larger dragons. River followed closely behind her mother, with a smirk across her face.
Orca, Torrent, where have you been? Queen Coral asked, frowning. You've been missing for the whole day. She tapped her claws on the ground below, waiting for an answer.
We went to the Summer Palace, Orca quickly lied. Torrent had forgotten something there, so we went back to find it.
Coral looked satisfied with this answer, but River was not. Oh yeah? she asked. Then why did you come back from that way, River pointed a claw to the east, when the Summer Palace is in the other direction? Gill put a claw up, motioning his daughter to be quiet; it wasn't her place to question her siblings.
We flew back from the Summer Palace instead of swimming, Orca quickly flashed, so we accidentally went a bit further than we intended, and had to swim back. That's why we took so long.
Coral nodded. Fine, but don't do it again. Orca, I know you're getting older and that you've made the journey by yourself before, but please, please tell your father or I before going to the Summer Palace without an adult. You're our princess, and it would be awful for the entire kingdom of you got somehow injured.
River glared at her mother and bared her teeth slightly, she obviously didn't like Coral ignoring that she was too a princess. Yes, yes, River. This goes for you too, Coral continued, noticing the look River was giving her.
Orca nodded. I'm sorry, she replied, I'll make sure to tell you the next time I leave the palace.
The same goes for you too, Torrent, Gill reprimanded. Torrent nodded in agreement.
Coral and Gill seemed satisfied, so they headed back to the palace, River trailing behind them. She gave Orca a quick glare as she swam away.
Orca and Torrent breathed a sigh of relief, and when the three were completely gone, they turned around to check that Griffin was still there. Fortunately, the kelp had hidden him well, and he wasn't caught.
As the sun set far above the Deep Palace, Orca, Torrent, and Griffin slowly swam back into their home.
River was angry. It has been three days since Orca and Torrent had been caught on their unauthorized trip to the "Summer Palace." Couldn't Mother see that they were lying? Or did she just not care?
If Coral wouldn't care, then River would. Orca was clearly up to something, and River would get to the bottom of it. Over the last few days, she had been studying Orca and Torrent's schedules. While they were somewhat erratic, River had found a time when they wouldn't be in Orca's room, and River planned to go down there and investigate.
Orca's room was normally locked, but River knew where the spare keys for all the rooms in the Deep Palace were, and had taken Orca's out of the stash. She swam down to her sister's room, traversing the long and winding passage. She had accounted for the time needed to get through it in her plans, and she had a good hour before Torrent or Orca were free again. Torrent was with Whirlpool, while Orca was with Coral.
River breathed in nervously through her gills, a nervous sweat radiating off her violet scales. She inserted the old key into Orca's lock, and paused a moment before turning it. If her theories were correct, the gryphon would be inside Orca's room. This time, River would make sure to close the door behind her.
Yet, River hesitated. Was this really the right thing to do? Orca was her sister, wasn't she? And what if Torrent got caught up in whatever happened? Would he get hurt? No, Orca might have been River's biological sister, but she was no friend: Orca was River's rival, her enemy, a competitor for the throne, and Orca's icey attitude towards her younger sibling had done nothing to show anything different. If Torrent got harmed, that was his own fault for joining in with her. River turned the key, and opened up the door to Orca's room.
The young princess slammed the door behind her, making sure whatever was inside couldn't escape. She looked around the room for any signs of movement, and prepared her claws in case she needed to fight. A long moment passed before River realized that there was nothing there, except for a few loose feathers, similar to the ones she had found before, scattered around the floor.
Her eyes glazed around the room again, searching every nook and cranny. Still nothing. She had been wrong: the gryphon she had seen earlier was not in Orca's room. River cursed in Aquatic. Had this all been for nothing? Was Orca innocent of any implicating crime?
No, she couldn't be. Even if she hadn't gotten her goal, River wouldn't let this opportunity and planning go to waste. She would take this time to investigate. The first place River looked at was Orca's collection of statues. Orca's hobby had always seemed suspicious to her. Just the way that the jewel-eyed busts of her parents stared back at River creeped her out, like she was being watched by her mother's judging eyes.
River picked up Orca's sculpting tools in her claws, and frowned. They gave off a strange aura, sending a small shiver up River's scales, but other than that, there was nothing unusual or incriminating about them. She set them back down. River then looked over to Orca's desk and the scroll-shelves above. Orca always spent so much time reading scrolls, maybe that would give River a clue. River opened one of the ones on the desk. It contained sketches of the statue Orca had made of Queen Atoll. That statue was no longer in Orca's room, River now unfortunately had to see it whenever she swam from her room too Whirlpool's classroom, just as another reminder of how much greater Orca was than her. River rolled open another scroll, and her eyes opened wide in surprise. This was promising.
The scroll contained plans for another statue: a gryphon. The sketches looked exactly the same as the creature River had seen in the Summer Palace. River glanced back to the statues, just to make sure that there wasn't a gryphon statue there. There wasn't.
For a second, River thought about taking the scroll to Coral right there and then. But, no, Coral wouldn't believe her, and even if she did, Orca would just find a way to convince Coral otherwise. River couldn't believe how gullible Coral was, to believe anything that Orca ever told her. How did Orca get away with it?
Fueled by her discovery, River looked up to Orca's scrollshelf. She pulled out a few of them, making sure to keep track of their order so that Orca wouldn't notice anything gone. It only took a glance at a few of the titles for River to realize what was going on. Every single scroll was about animus dragons. She pulled out a few more scrolls, and the pattern continued.
It didn't take River long to put two and two together: Orca was an animus, and she had enchanted her gryphon statue to come to life. It all made sense. The strange perfection of the feathers, as if they were made by a dragon's mind and claws instead of by nature. The stone River had stubbed her claw on so long ago. She still had it in her room, next to the feathers. Torrent was sure to be in on it too. An accomplice to Orca's crimes.
River suddenly froze with a frightening realization. What if Orca's room was trapped? If she was an animus, she could have all sorts of ways to prevent intruders. River had heard about what animuses could do. River could've gotten an awful curse on her, for all she knew. No, that seemed unlikely. River didn't feel any different, did she? Yet, Orca might still have an alarm on her room. What if she knew that someone had gotten in? River needed to get out, fast.
After quickly placing the scrolls back in order, so that Orca would hopefully not know River was ever in there, River left the room, relocking it after she exited. She still wasn't sure about her theory, but if Orca was an animus, this was big. And very, very dangerous.
Mother, why do we have Talons of Power ceremonies? River asked. It had been a few hours since she had left Orca's room, and as far as River knew, she hadn't triggered any alarms.
Oh, I don't know, Coral replied, paying more attention to the scroll she was reading than her daughter. I suppose it's kind of a coming of age thing. Two is a very big year for a lot of dragonets.
River sighed. Did Queen Coral really think River didn't know about the true purpose of the ceremony? River already knew what the ceremonies were used for, but she figured this would be the easiest way for her to learn if there was anything suspicious during Orca's ceremony. If there was, it could confirm her theory about Orca being an animus.
What about the coconuts? I thought it had to do with finding animus dragons.
Coral sighed and rolled her eyes slightly. Well, yes, it does, but it's been ages and ages since we've found any. Such a shame, really.
River slowly nodded. Don't we have animus blood in our family? Albatross and Fathom were both animuses, she pressed Coral.
We might, Coral replied, but it's been so long that I really don't know anymore.
River tried to appear deep in thought for her mother. When I had my Talons of Power ceremony, did anything weird happen? Like, did the coconut move, but just a little?
Coral chuckled, surely thinking about her dragonet's silly antics. No, I'm sorry, but I don't think so. Whirlpool would've told me if anything had happened.
River nodded. Now she could finally get to the question she had wanted to ask. What about at Rift and Angler's ceremonies? Or Orca's ceremony.
Coral thought about if for a moment. No, I don't think so. They all went completely according to plan.
River frowned. This didn't bode well for her theory. Yet, it had all made perfect sense! Where else could the gryphon have come from, and why else would Orca have all those scrolls on animus dragons in her room? Alright, thank you, Mother.
Coral nodded, then looked back to her scroll. It was some report on the SeaWing treasury or battle plans, not of much interest to River. River started to head back to her room. Maybe Orca's powers just hadn't developed by two? That would explain it. Or maybe she had somehow hidden them.
Either way, what Coral had said still didn't disprove River's theory. She wondered what to do next. Queen Moorhen and Blister were coming to the Summer Palace again in a few weeks, maybe River could search for the gryphon again then. She would finally be able to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.