Once Cora was out of sight, Oona's shoulders slumped. "Ugh," she said miserably. A piece of coral floated by, and Oona hit it with her tail, sending it flying. She seemed to be in an awful mood.
"What's wrong, Oona?" asked Sofin. "Can't we do something fun together in the kingdom?"
Oona sighed. "That's the problem, Sofin. There isn't anything fun to do in the kingdom. All the places I spend the most time: the abandoned ship, Whirlpool Canyon, they're all outside the kingdom. In here, I don't even know what to do."
Right on cue, Sofin's stomach rumbled. He smiled sheepishly. "Well, do you know anywhere to get something to eat? I kinda skipped half my dinner to get here sooner."
"Actually," said Oona, "there is a place that has some really good milkshakes. It's called Thali's Milkshake Corner. Follow me!" She swam down towards the west side of the kingdom. Sofin followed closely.
Oona led the prince to a rather busy path, where mermaids and some other sea creatures swam along. Sofin spied crabs, clams, and even a couple seahorses. Some of the sea creatures, like the crabs, scuttled along the sandy road, while others simply floated above the path. To either side were shops made mostly of various stones. Most were decorated with pearls, gems, or other shiny objects, to try to attract as many customers as possible. Green light shone from below the city, peeking out through cracks in the sand, and illuminating the whole street. There was no need for street lamps in the mermaid kingdom.
"This is the shopping district," said Oona. "And that is Thali's Milkshake Corner." She pointed at a building at the corner between two streets. It was tall and red, and hanging from the top of the building was a large golden sign reading "Thali's Milkshake Corner." The building was about twenty feet tall, and there were arched glass windows on each wall. Hanging in one of the front windows was a bright sign that read "OPEN". With a little bit of excitement, Sofin followed Oona into the building, and gasped in shock. The back wall of the emporium was filled with dozens of options for milkshake flavors, and a tall mermaid with a dark green top and blue tail sat behind a counter in front of them. But neither of those were what had caught Sofin's attention. The seats for the customers weren't on the ground. Instead, mermaids floated higher in the shop, sipping drinks out of tall lidded cups and talking to each other. Tables with attached chairs floated in the water, and some mermaids sat at them as they drank. One table actually had four mermaids playing a game of cards, off the ground!
"What?" asked Oona, having heard his gasp.
Sofin pointed at the mermaids, drinking milkshakes above them. "They're floating," he said, surprised.
Oona laughed. "That's interesting to you? Every shop in Merroway Cove is like that. If you find a floating table cool, maybe there are other fun things I can show you in the kingdom." She swam forwards, towards the mermaid at the counter, Sofin following behind.
The mermaid at the counter greeted them. "I'm Thali, and welcome to Thali's Milkshake Corner," she said. "Welcome back Princess Oona. Who's your friend?"
"This is Sofin, he's new to Merroway Cove," said Oona. It seemed like she came here often and knew Thali well. "Oh, and I'll have one poofberry milkshake. Sofin, what flavor would you like?"
Sofin looked up at the list of flavors, but he didn't recognize any of them. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Uhhh…" he said.
"Oh," laughed Oona, "you probably haven't tried any of these! We'll just get two poofberry milkshakes." Thali nodded and headed to a back room to start making the shakes. "Poofberry milkshakes are my favorite," whispered Oona to Sofin. He nodded, eager to try one.
In just a minute, Thali returned, holding one cup in each hand. She handed them to Oona and Sofin along with two straws. "Thanks!" said Sofin, grabbing his milkshake and straw, and he followed Oona up to one of the empty floating tables for two.
"Careful," said Oona once they were seated. "Make sure you hold one end of the straw closed when you're not drinking the milkshake, so water can't get in. Otherwise, you'll be having a poofbery-seawater milkshake instead. She demonstrated by holding one end of the straw shut, then poking it through the plastic lid of the milkshake, then putting the straw in her mouth to take a sip of the milkshake. "Mmmm," she said in satisfaction, "that's good."
Sofin copied her movements and took a sip of his own drink. To his surprise, the poofberry milkshake was delicious. It didn't taste like any of the fruits he knew, but it was sweet and creamy, and almost melted down his throat. He had to stop himself from drinking all of it at once, it was that good.
Onna spotted the contented expression on her friend's face. "I know, it's good, right?"
Sofin nodded. "Really good! What are poofberries, anyway?"
"They're a type of berry that only grows deep under the sea," answered Oona. "Here in Merroway Cove, there's a lot of foods and fruits that come from underwater. Most of them are grown in the Merroway Orchard."
"Wow," said Sofin. "It's like you have a whole new world down here, under the sea." And it was: there were shops and streets, orchards, canyons, places to explore and places to have fun. And it was all so wonderfully different in a way that made Sofin's heart thump with excitement.
"But for us mermaids, this is the whole world," said Oona with a little bit of sadness. "We'll never get to explore the open world up above." She took another sip of her milkshake. "And even though it's great here, sometimes I wish we could get to explore the world up above, too."
Sofin's heart broke a little seeing the sad expression on Oona's face. He hadn't even realized that the mermaids were all stuck under the ocean forever. They'd never be able to ride on a pegasus or meet cave trolls or soar through the air on a magical carpet. They'd never be able to adventure or journey across the whole wide world to new kingdoms and meet new friends. No wonder Oona was so fascinated with humans: they were all she knew that wasn't deep underwater.
"Well," said Sofin, "I might not be able to help you explore land, but I can do my best to tell you what it's like." He reached for his hip, where thankfully it seemed like his pockets had transformed into a small pouch. Opening it, he pulled out one of the strawberries he had taken from the dinner table for Robin and Mia. He handed the strawberry to Oona, who took it in her hands, looking at it closely.
"That's a strawberry," explained Sofin. "It's a berry that grows on land, and I don't think you have it under the sea." Oona shook her head in confirmation. "It's special, because its seeds grow on the outside of the fruit. Do you want to try it?"
Oona, who was cradling it in her hands, looked up at Sofin. "You want me to eat it?" she said, sounding both hesitant and excited.
"Yeah!" said Sofin. "We've got plenty on the surface." He could always grab more for his bird friends later.
The mermaid princess put the fruit to her mouth and carefully took a bite. Her expression morphed to one of delight. "This is great!" she said, taking a larger bite. "It's sweet, but so…new! I don't even know how to describe it!"
Seeing a huge smile on Oona's face made Sofin's heart flutter a little. "I'm glad you like it," he said. Oona moved to take another bite. "Oh, don't eat the green bit, that's the stem!"
Oona stopped, and took a smaller bite instead. "I wonder what this would taste like in a milkshake," she said, still chewing.
"Really good," responded Sofin. Mmmmm… he could really go for a strawberry milkshake right now. "Strawberry ice cream is the best! I just wish there was a way you could explore everything up above."
"Me too," agreed Oona. "But Cora won't let me go outside the kingdom at all, so there's no way I can go to the surface." She sighed.
"About that," said Sofin. "I've been meaning to ask. What is 'the kingdom', anyways? Is it all of Merroway Cove, or is it just everything within the crown-looking walls?"
Oona finished her strawberry, then threw the stem into a nearby floating trash can. "It's both, sort of. Technically, all of Merroway Cove, everything in the water, is part of the mermaid kingdom. That includes everything outside of the crown. But at night, all the mermaids and most of the other sea creatures head to the crown, which is also where all the mermaid homes and all the businesses are. So the crown is like the heart of Merroway Cove, and sometimes we call everything inside of the crown as 'the kingdom', even though it's really bigger than that."
That made sense, but it also didn't. "Why do all the mermaids come back to the crown at night?" asked Sofin.
"Because of the light," said Oona. "The crown was built on a source of green light that helps guide lost mermaids back home and wards away dangerous creatures that live in the dark." She rolled her eyes, then finished sarcastically, "if they even exist."
"Where does the light come from?" asked Sofin, now feeling curious. He'd seen it everywhere in the kingdom, and it even seemed to pass up through the sandy ocean floor.
"I…don't actually know," responded the mermaid princess. "But if there's anywhere we can find out, it'll be in the library." She finished the last of her poofberry milkshake, then discarded the empty cup and straw into the floating trash can. "If you're done, we can go there next?"
Sofin took one final sip, then threw his own empty cup away. "Yep, I'm done," he said. "And I sort of want answers, so to the library we go!"
"Okay!" said Oona, and she led him out of the milkshake shop and towards another part of the kingdom. "It's this way. Follow me."
As it turned out, swimming with fins was a whole lot faster than walking. The mermaid kingdom was pretty big, but with Oona leading the way, making it from one side of the kingdom to the other only took a few minutes. Sofin followed Oona through the busy streets and past shops selling groceries, clothing, decorative shells, and everything in between. Looking around at the busy street and crowded shops, Sofin felt a pang of homesickness for his old life in the village. The Enchancian castle halls, though grand, were never full of life like the mermaid kingdom was. He had grown to love them as his new home, but that didn't mean he didn't miss Dunwiddie Village at all.
Eventually, Oona led the prince to a large red building labeled "LIBRARY." It looked older and a little more worn-down than the new buildings all around it, as if it had been built a very long time ago. In a sense, it reminded Sofin of Cedric's tower back in the castle: old, tall, and full of useful knowledge. Oona turned the golden doorknob and opened the wooden door, which creaked as the two royals swam inside.
The inside of the library seemed surprisingly mundane compared to the milkshake shop from earlier. An empty desk stood in front of them—the librarian must have been away for whatever reason. Behind the desk was a closed door, which Sofin guessed must have been some sort of storage room. To either side, dozens of shelves were crowded along the floor and walls, thousands of books organized by section and subject, containing more words than Sofin might ever be able to read in a lifetime. The prince noticed that the pages of the books weren't made of paper, but rather a thin green-colored material that closely resembled seaweed. At the back wall, beside the front counter, was a set of stairs leading up to a second floor of the building. But the first floor of the library was totally empty.
"It's gone!" shrieked a panicked voice, coming from somewhere above. Sofin and Oona glanced at each other and nodded, then, without a word, they both swam for the stairs, Oona first, then Sofin following closely behind. As the friends ascended the staircase, Sofin realized with some confusion that since mermaids swam everywhere, stairs were practically useless. But there wasn't time to think about that: someone needed their help.
Sofin reached the second floor just behind Oona. Like the first floor, it was crowded with tens of bookshelves and only one person. Signs hanging from the ceiling marked the different sections of the library. Beneath the sign labeled "Ancient History and Mythology," a short male mermaid with an orange top and a dark crimson tail was frantically looking through shelves, searching for a book that had apparently gone missing. He wore a pair of thick glasses, and beside him was a half-full cart of various unshelved books.
"What's going on?" asked Oona, approaching the mermaid.
He looked up to see Oona and Sofin there. "Princess!" he exclaimed, startled. "Oh, it's terrible! Our copy of One Thousand Magical Artifacts is gone! It must have been stolen!"
"What?" squeaked Sofin in shock. "Okay, start from the beginning. What happened? And who are you?"
The mermaid took a deep breath. "I'm Mallow, the librarian here. About half an hour ago, I was at my desk, reading a book on deep-sea agriculture, when a mermaid came up to the counter. She wanted to ask if we had any books on magical artifacts, and I needed to reshelve these books on the second floor anyways, so I showed her up here and then started reshelving. But I've just gotten to the Ancient History and Mythology section, which should contain all the books on magic, and our copy of One Thousand Magical Artifacts isn't on the shelf anymore! That mermaid must have stolen it."
"Can you describe her?" asked Oona. "Thieves aren't very common in Merroway Cove. If you know what she looked like, I'm sure we could find her quickly."
"That's just it!" said the librarian. "She had a black tail and gray fin, I know that much, but she was wearing a black jacket and a mask, so I didn't get to see anything but her eyes! I only know she was a girl at all because of the sound of her voice."
"And you didn't think that was weird at all?" questioned Sofin.
The librarian shrugged. "Okay, it was a little odd, but we never get thieves in Merroway Cove! It's just such a small kingdom, they're always so easy to find." He shook his head and straightened up, suddenly realizing what he was doing. "Wait, why am I telling this to a couple of children? I need to go find a guard!" Holding his glasses tight so they wouldn't slip off, the librarian swam down the stairs, probably to leave the library.
"That poor librarian…" said Sofin, looking at the stairs where he had just left.
"What do you mean?" said Oona. "This is great!"
"Huh?" said Sofin, confused. He turned to look at his friend, who was wearing a bright smile.
"I thought there wouldn't be anything fun to do in the kingdom, but now there is!" explained Oona. "We can go catch that thief!"
"What?" said Sofin in surprise. Catch a mermaid thief? But they were just children! "Shouldn't we leave that to the guards?"
"Come on," said Oona, "live a little, Sofin! We've still got more than an hour until you have to leave. We can have action! Adventure! And we can do it all while still following Cora's orders. Doesn't that sound exciting?"
It did, but… "I think I've had more than enough action and adventure for a day," said Sofin, crossing his arms and turning away.
Oona swam back into his view. "But it would be so much fun," she said, pouting. "Come on, can't we try? Just for me?"
Sofin looked at Oona, her blond hair gently waving in the water, her cute face pouting gently at him. Gah! He knew it was dangerous, but how was he supposed to say no to that face?
"Okay," agreed Sofin reluctantly. "We can try to find and catch the mermaid thief. But as soon as something goes wrong or something bad happens, we stop, okay?"
"Okay," agreed Oona. "How do we find the thief, though?"
"Hmmmm." Sofin thought for a moment. "Oh! Maybe we should start by searching the library. The thief might have left some clues for us to find, here. That's what all the detectives in my mom's stories do, anyways."
"Great idea, Sofin," praised Oona, and the prince's cheeks burned a little red. Not wanting to spend more time talking, the two friends started searching the second floor of the library. But there was nothing interesting at all: aside from the missing book, everything seemed to be in the right place. None of the other books seemed to have been stolen, and there wasn't anything floating freely in the water. When they found nothing, the detectives headed back down the stairs to the first floor of the library. The wooden door was still wide open, but there was no sign of the thief at all.
Oona sighed in frustration. "Well, it was a great idea. But there's nothing here! Now what do we do?"
Sofin, however, wasn't done searching. He noticed something interesting about the door behind the librarian's desk. "Hey, Oona," he said, "where does this door lead to?"
The mermaid swam up to get a closer look. "I think that's just a storage room for holding extra copies of books or something," she said. "It's usually closed and locked. Nothing special about it."
Sofin pushed the door, and was surprised when it opened. "Except there's no lock," he said.
Oona squinted. "Okay, that is a little weird. But maybe the librarian just forgot to lock it?"
"Nuh-uh," said Sofin. He pointed down to the floor, where he could see a glinting piece of metal. Sofin grabbed it and pulled it up so that both of them could see what he had found. It was a padlock, probably meant to go on the door. But instead of being simply open, the padlock was completely cut, one piece of the metal sheared off so that the entire thing would open. "Look, it's broken. Someone broke this lock to get into this room, and I bet it's our mystery thief," he concluded.
Oona's eyes went wide. "You're right, Sofin!" she exclaimed. "After her!" She opened the door to reveal a set of stairs, leading down.
"Are you really sure this is the right thing to do?" asked Sofin. "Who knows what might be waiting for us down there?"
"Oh, come on," said Oona, waving him off. "It'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen?" With those ominous words, she swam down the set of stairs, and Sofin reluctantly followed.
The stairs led the two of them down into a wide cellar, below the library, whose walls were filled with shelves of unsorted books. The storage room was shaped like a circle, with some books along the shelves on the edges, and others stacked neatly into piles across the floor. Quills and ink were also scattered everywhere across the floor, and some piles of books rested neatly in carts, which had wheels and rolled across the ground. But to Sofin's surprise, that was it. Just lots of books, quills, and ink. There wasn't anyone hiding down there. Had the mystery thief already left?
"Let's search this room, too," said Oona, and Sofin nodded. Just like the padlock, there might have been clues strewn around where they least expected it. But searching through the stacks of books, Sofin didn't find anything. Oona's groans of frustration from the other side of the room told Sofin that she had had no luck, either.
After minutes of checking every corner of the room, Oona threw her hands up in frustration. "Ugh," she said, "what do we do now? We've got to find that thief."
Sofin shrugged. "I guess if there's nothing here, we might as well go tell the guards about the padlock. They might have better luck than us."
"Yeah," sighed Oona. She slumped over a pile of books resting on the ground, absentmindedly reading titles from a nearby shelf. "Unless you want to know about Twelve Ways to Tie a Knot or The Hidden Kingdom of Atlantis, I don't think there's anything to find here."
"Actually," said Sofin, "what is that second one about? Now that you've asked, I sort of do want to know."
"Probably just some children's storybook," said Oona. "I've never heard of it." She pulled herself off the pile of books and approached the dark green book, titled in gold letters, and sitting right in the middle of the shelf, which was backed against a wall. The mermaid princess reached a hand out to the top of the book and pulled, but to her surprise the book didn't budge an inch. With a look of frustration, she pulled again, harder, but the book still didn't move.
"Hey, Sofin," called the mermaid princess. "I think this book is stuck. Can you help me get it out?"
Sofin swam over to the bookshelf and placed his own hands on Oona's on the dark green book to help pull it. With their combined efforts, he could finally feel the book budging, inch by inch. And then, with a satisfying snap, the book came loose from the shelf and was sent flying somewhere through the water. But the moment it was released, Sofin began to hear the sound of a deep rumbling, like huge pieces of stone were moving somewhere he couldn't see. And the walls of the storage room began shaking ominously.
Sofin swam a few paces back from the bookshelf. "What's going on, Oona?" he asked, frightened.
The mermaid princess's eyes were wide open. "I don't know!" she responded fearfully. The rumbling from the walls grew louder and louder. Then, a piece of the wall slid over, in front of Oona and Sofin's eyes, to block the staircase from which they had come down. They were stuck, with no escape, as the walls shook and the floor rumbled.
"We're trapped," whispered Sofin. He made eye contact with Oona, who was starting to tremble in fear. Sofin was already shaking. "Help!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. But he knew it was unlikely anyone would hear him through the stone walls of the storage room.
Then, faster than he could even realize it, the circular floor of the storage room dropped away, swinging down in two halves so that there was nothing below them but more water. Sofin shrieked in alarm, but realized quickly that he could swim and that he wasn't falling. Oona was nearby—on an impulse, he rushed over to his friend and pulled her to his chest, holding her tightly. Oona wrapped her own arms around his body, two friends clinging to each other in desperate fear. Then, the circular walls started rotating, spinning clockwise faster and faster—wait, no, the walls weren't rotating, he was rotating, and so was all of the water, spinning in a circle faster and faster as the thunderous sound of waves grew louder and louder in his ears.
"Whirlpool!" screamed Oona, who Sofin could barely hear over the loud rumbling of the walls and the crashing of the water as it spun faster and faster and even faster. With a jolt, Sofin realized they weren't just spinning, they were sinking, deeper and deeper, below where the floor of the library was and down into darker depths. Spinning as fast as he could, he couldn't even try to make sense of what he was seeing or where he was going, but he remembered Oona talking about whirlpools earlier, and about how if you got caught in one, there was nothing to do except sink all the way down until it ended. Closing his eyes, his arms wrapped around Oona, he tried his best to wait and stay hopeful that wherever they ended up was somewhere safe.
Author's Note: Yes, I know the crown is just the mermaid palace in the show. It's changed here to be an entire kingdom/city: call it artistic license.