"What?" exclaimed Oona. "Your amulet is losing its magic?"
"It—It's been letting off bits of light ever since we entered Atlantis," explained Sofin, his teeth chattering. "And the mermaid's song described Atlantis as 'magic's end'. Your comb is probably losing its magic too."
"Nevermind my comb! If your amulet loses its magic, you'll…you'll…" Tears started to form at the edges of Oona's eyes.
Sofin just nodded slowly. In the best case, he'd be stuck as a mermaid forever, cursed to leave his friends and family on land behind. In the worst case…well, he didn't want to think about that. The good scenario was already terrifying enough.
The tears at Oona's eyes grew, her tearstained face visible in the glow of Sofin's amulet. "I'm—I'm so sorry!" she choked out, now openly crying. "This is all my fault!"
"What?" said Sofin. "No, it's not your fault!"
Oona's cries deepened into full-blown sobs. "Yes it is! I'm the one who wanted us to catch that stupid thief in the first place! You said it wasn't safe, and then we got trapped, and now we're lost in this dark maze and we can't even see and soon your amulet is gonna run out of magic!"
"But Oona," said Sofin, "you couldn't have known any of that was going to happen."
Oona sniffled. "But I should have been more careful! And you even said we could leave once we found the map and you pointed out an exit, we could have gone to get Princess Cora but I didn't because I wanted to be a hero!"
"You made the right choice, though!" said Sofin. "The thief was getting close to the heart, we really didn't have time to get your sister—" He was cut off as Oona put a hand to his mouth, silencing him.
"But it didn't matter!" yelled Oona, her sadness mixing with anger, her throat burning with raw emotion. "Because I didn't stop the thief like I was supposed to! Because I failed!"
Sofin tried to pull Oona's hand away from his mouth to tell her she didn't fail, they hadn't failed yet, the thief was still in the maze, there was still time, but her grip was as hard as iron.
"And!" screamed Oona, but her voice cracked and broke, her anger giving way to sadness. "And," she repeated, sounding horribly defeated, "all day, I've been acting before I think. I got myself captured by that sea monster, I tried to take on a thief all on my own, I tried to steal a trident I couldn't use and activated a trap. You're the one who saved me from the sea monster, Sofin. You're the one who saved me from the trap in the armory. You're the hero, and I—and I'm just a princess pretending I can be one." She let out a quiet sob, her arm going limp as it fell away from Sofin's mouth. "I'm not ready to be a hero," she said, a tear falling from her eye. "I don't have what it takes."
I'm not ready to be a royal, I don't have what it takes.
Sofin remembered that moment when he too had felt unprepared for a new role he had to play. And he knew just what to say: the words he had dreamed of hearing, all those months ago.
"Then you don't need to be a hero," said Sofin. "You just need to be who you are."
Oona looked down to the ground. "But what if who I am isn't enough?" she whispered.
Sofin put a hand under Oona's chin and raised it so that she'd look into his eyes. "Oona, you're strong and you're brave and you're resilient. You proved you had courage by staying strong even when you had to face something new. You proved you could do the right thing by choosing to stay here and protect your kingdom instead of running away. But more than that, you're my friend, Oona, and you care for me. So when you say who you are isn't enough, that's just not true!" He looked directly into Oona's warm brown eyes. "Because you'll always be enough. For me."
Oona started to cry again, but this time, her mouth formed into a smile. She pulled Sofin into a deep hug, holding him close. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, her face buried in Sofin's hair. "Can you ever forgive me?"
Sofin returned the hug, holding his friend close to him. "I already have," he said. They stayed like that, for a moment, before pulling away.
Oona wiped the tears from her face and took a shaky breath. "What do we do now?" she asked. "We're totally lost, we can't see anything in this maze, and we have to find the exit before the thief does and get the heart back. Oh, and we have to get out of this maze soon, or else your amulet will lose its magic forever. Can this get any worse?"
The moment Oona finished saying those words, the walls began to rumble ominously. On instinct, Sofin grabbed Oona's hand in his own. He could hear the quaking of stone in the air as the walls began to shake. Then, without any warning, a small piece of stone dislodged itself from the ceiling and fell, narrowly missing Oona and Sofin. It landed on the floor with a loud crash, startling the two of them. But the walls didn't stop rumbling, pieces of dust slowly starting to fall from the ceiling. Without its heart, Atlantis was slowly starting to collapse.
Sofin and Oona stared at the fallen piece of stone. "Okay," said Oona quietly. "Maybe it can get worse."
"Atlantis is collapsing," said Sofin. "We have to find a way out of here, fast!"
"How?" exclaimed Oona. "We don't even know where we are! Oh, I wish we could find that map…"
Find a map…that was it! "Oona, you're a genius!" exclaimed Sofin. He started searching around the intersection they were in, using his amulet to light up the corridors.
"I am?" said the mermaid princess, following behind him.
On one of the paths coming out of the intersection, Sofin found what he was looking for: a torn piece of a strawberry, lying above one of the exits. "Yes!" he exclaimed. "Look, remember our plan to leave strawberries down the corridors we had gone, so we would know if we were going in circles?"
"Yeah, I remember that…Oh!" said Oona, making the realization. "We can follow the paths with the strawberries to get back to the map!"
"Exactly!" said Sofin. The walls rumbled, and another small piece of stone fell from the ceiling. "We should hurry. The longer we stay here, the worse it'll get. We better find that map before this whole place falls apart!"
Oona nodded, and still holding hands, the royals swam down the corridor marked by the strawberry piece. When they reached the next fork, Sofin searched for the next strawberry piece by the light of his amulet, and they swam down the next corridor. They kept it up, finding a strawberry half and following it to the next intersection. The rumbling from the walls grew louder, but only small stones and dust fell as they made their way to the map.
Eventually, Sofin and Oona reached the room with the map. The walls were shaking ominously, but the map in the center of the room seemed untouched. Without wasting any time, Sofin swam to the map, holding his amulet to the glass cover so he could see in its faint purple light.
It took a moment of searching, but Sofin eventually found the map room and the square room marked 'Exit'. He waved his amulet across the map, trying to find a path from their place to the exit. They could leave through the door opposite to the one they came through, and then they just needed to take a right, go forward twice, take a left, then swim through a long corridor, and they'd be at the exit. Connected to the start of the long corridor was a room labeled 'Divination Room'. Was this where the mermaids of Altantis had seen the future and discovered their heart would be stolen? He wondered what other prophecies the mermaids might have—
"Sofin!" screamed Oona. She crashed into his side, sending both of them flying away from the map and towards the outer wall of the room. Just a moment later, there was a loud cracking noise from the ceiling as a huge piece of rock, nearly the size of Sofin himself, fell from the ceiling and landed directly on the map, shattering the glass cover. Thankfully, neither child was close enough to the map to get hit by any glass shards. Sofin gaped. He had been so absorbed in looking at the map that he hadn't even noticed a rock was going to fall.
"Which way do we go?" asked Oona commandingly.
Sofin shook himself. No time to think about mermaids and seeing the future. "That way!" he said, pointing at the right exit. Oona grabbed his hand and they swam towards the exit, leaving the broken map behind.
"How did you know the rock was going to fall? I can barely see anything here," asked Sofin as they swam towards the exit.
"You've got to use more than just your eyes," explained Oona. "Listen to the creaking of the ceiling and feel the water shifting around you. You need to rely on your instincts. It's just like whirlpool racing."
"And just like flying derby," agreed Sofin. He heard a crack from somewhere to his right.
"Left!" yelled Oona, pulling him by his hand. He followed her as a rock from the ceiling broke off and landed with a huge crash to his right. The impact from the rock hitting the ground sent out huge ripples which almost tipped Sofin over, but he was able to keep himself steady by holding on to Oona's hand.
Sofin steadied himself next to Oona, two of them still swimming forwards. This time, when the creak came from somewhere to his left, he reacted, pulling himself and Oona out of the way of the falling stone.
Oona laughed wildly. "Don't you feel it, Sofin?" she said. "The thrill, the adrenaline running through your veins? This is what whirlpool racing is all about! It's about adapting to currents you don't expect! It's about daring and guts!" She shifted to the right to avoid a small falling rock.
Sofin could feel it. The energy rushing through his limbs, the thrill every time they dodged a falling rock or changed their speed as the current shifted due to an impact. It was just like the feeling he got every time Minimus did a flip in the air or narrowly dodged an obstacle. And Sofin loved it.
"Right turn!" called Sofin. He slowed down a bit to let Oona lead him through the turn. At the perfect moment, she swerved, and Sofin followed her movements, cleanly turning and avoiding the walls. No collision for him this time.
"Keep going forward past two more intersections!" said Sofin to Oona over the quaking of the walls. "Then it's a right turn!"
Oona gasped. "Okay, but the thief is right there!" she called, pointing forwards. And the mermaid princess was right: Sofin could see the green light of the heart, far ahead of them in the hallway. It seemed the thief had finally found her way to the exit. She was dozens of feet ahead of them, though.
"We'll never catch up to her!" shouted Sofin as the ceiling rumbled. On instinct, he sped up just a little as a rock slammed into the ground behind him. The waves surging out from the impact gave the two of them a tiny speed boost. Sofin's heart raced. "She was faster than us before!"
"But speed isn't everything this time around," retorted Oona. "She's got falling rocks to avoid, too!"
And it seemed Oona was right, because even though the thief was far ahead of them, she was slowly losing ground by slowing down or stopping anytime a rock fell, even the ones that weren't coming close to her. Sofin pumped his tail, keeping his ears open and alert, and ready to turn on a dime in case anything popped up in front of him. A crash came from the left of the two children, and Sofin was almost thrown off by the huge wave it sent through the hallway, but he recovered just in time to narrowly avoid hitting the right wall.
"Stop running away!" he screamed desperately at the thief, while chasing her. "You're going to bring this whole place to the ground!"
"Obviously!" yelled the thief back, stopping to avoid a small rock. She sped back up again. "So what if an abandoned maze gets ruined?"
"But you're hurting all the mermaids, too!" interjected Oona. "Without the light, the kingdom will have nowhere safe to go at night!"
There was a crack from the ceiling, and a rock fell, just barely missing the thief. She stopped in alarm, which let Sofin and Oona get a couple feet closer. "You can go to the surface and stay in the moonlight," said the thief. "Nothing is more important than getting this heart! Even if the mermaids have to suffer a little."
Sofin furrowed his eyebrows as he dodged another rock, the walls slowly starting to rumble louder. Why was she speaking as if she wasn't one of the mermaids herself?
"Just…stop!" yelled Oona. She put on a burst of speed, and Sofin followed. They were getting close to the thief by now.
The thief ignored her. She kept swimming forwards, finally reaching the third intersection along the corridor. "The exit is this way!" she yelled, swerving to the right. Why was she telling them? It didn't matter. No time to think. He needed to focus on catching that mermaid and getting that heart back.
Sofin made the turn with Oona close behind, his heart pounding furiously. The thief was almost within reaching distance at this point. All they needed to do was catch her before she got to the end of the long corridor, where the exit was according to the map.
All it took was one wayward glance. One unfocused look from Sofin, towards the room off to the side that the map had called the 'Divination Room'. He was chasing the thief one moment, and then the next, he was floating completely still, his jaw fallen open, his heart pounding in his chest, his eyes wide as they saw floating white light in the room, showing two words that made Sofin's whole body tremble.
"Sofin!" yelled Oona, and he blinked, looking back towards the thief who was still swimming away from them. Oona had stopped with him, not willing to let go of his hand. He swam into action once more, but the momentary distraction had been too much. The thief had gained a huge lead on them once again.
Even as he dodged falling debris, Sofin knew they were going to be too slow. She was far ahead of them, and even though he couldn't see the end of the corridor, he knew there was just too much ground to make up.
Suddenly, Sofin heard a huge crack, coming from just ahead of them. It sounded like a huge part of the wall had collapsed, sending currents in every direction. But the thunderous roar of water surging from the impact didn't subside immediately. It kept roaring and whistling, and Sofin realized with a start that he knew what was happening. The currents from all the falling rocks must have merged together in just the right way, because Sofin knew that noise of roaring water and wind: he had just heard it earlier that day.
Oona, swimming beside Sofin, grinned maniacally as she looked at her friend. "Sofin," she said over the deafening sound of spinning water, "it's time for you to become a whirlpool racer."
And she pulled Sofin directly into the forming whirlpool.
Sofin panicked. Stuck in the rotating vortex of water, he flailed his arms and tail wildly, trying to get out before he got sucked in. He couldn't hear or see anything but the loud rush of spinning water. A current spun Sofin off to one side, and he corkscrewed through the water, spinning in two different ways, feeling dizzy and sick to his stomach. It was impossible to control his movements in the whirlpool!
But then Oona pulled on his hand, and he looked ahead to see the glowing aqua comb of his friend. She was in the whirlpool too, swimming ahead of him, her body totally straight as the whirlpool spun her forwards. She looked back for a moment, and Sofin could see the confidence in her steely eyes. Oona tried to say something, bubbles rising out of her mouth, but Sofin couldn't hear.
Sofin tried his best to get himself into the same position Oona was in. He put his other arm along his side and angled his tail so that it was facing in the direction of the spinning water, not away from the whirlpool. A current came out of nowhere, almost blasting him to one side, but Sofin was ready, and he carefully angled his body so that it kept going in the same direction.
Somewhere ahead of him, Oona nodded, and then she began to swim forwards in the direction of the spinning water, pulling Sofin behind her. Sofin followed, pumping his own tail so that he could keep up. The pair gained speed in the direction of the water as they revolved around the center of the whirlpool. The sound was deafening, but Sofin kept his other senses alert: anytime a stray current tried to whip him off course, he pulled himself back into the forwards position.
Oona kept swimming forwards with the current, faster and faster and then even faster and faster than that. Soon, Sofin was straining his tail trying to pump them forwards, going twice or three times the fastest speed he'd ever gone before. But he kept his eyes and ears open, preparing for the moment to exit the whirlpool.
Oona held up three fingers. Three.
She lowered a finger. Two.
She put down another finger. One.
Oona dropped her last finger. Go. With all his might, Sofin swerved away from the center of the whirlpool, sending his momentum flying forwards.
The royal children burst out of the whirlpool, hurtling directly at the thief. Oona had timed the exit perfectly. They were flying forwards, like streaks of lightning shooting through the water. Sofin aimed for the green light, and with a satisfying "thump", he crashed directly into the thief's back.
The thief stumbled on Sofin's impact, and the glowing green heart slipped out of her fingers. Oona snatched it out of the air triumphantly, turning cleanly back towards the way they had come. Sofin's own hands grabbed onto the brown satchel on the thief's shoulder, ripping it off before she even knew what was going on.
"No!" screamed the thief. She turned, but to Sofin's surprise, she didn't chase after Oona, who was already swimming away with the heart. Instead, the thief lunged at Sofin, reaching for the brown satchel he had pulled off her. Sofin tried to pull it back, but the thief grabbed one of the two handles, and pulled it from one end, like a tug-of-war contest. The bag ripped in two, revealing a book and the dagger the thief had used to break the shield covering the heart. Sofin reached for the dagger, but the thief was faster: she grabbed it out of the water, holding it by the hilt.
Fear shot through Sofin. He was totally defenseless. But as soon as the thief's hand closed around the dagger, she turned away: not towards Oona, but towards the exit, and started swimming. Sofin grabbed the book out of the water and watched her disappear from sight.
"She just left?" whispered Sofin to himself. He heard a crack from above and instinctively dodged to the right as a rock fell. He shook his head. No time for thinking. Atlantis was still falling apart.
Sofin turned and followed the direction Oona had gone, away from the exit. Clutching the book, he carefully avoided the swirling whirlpool and swam around it to the intersection. Oona, holding the heart of Atlantis, was waiting there for him.
"Which way?" she yelled over the thunderous sound of the whirlpool and the crumbling of the walls.
"Left!" yelled Sofin, catching up to the princess. Together, they turned, dodging rocks by the green light of the heart, as dust poured from the ceiling. And they swam towards the center of Atlantis, where the heart was meant to be.
They swam past the broken map, where the pedestal in the center of the room had already crumbled to stone.
They swam past the armory, where the flashing red lights had disappeared and the suits of armor had tipped over due to the shaking.
They swam to the center of Atlantis, where four pillars surrounded an empty patch of sea. Oona, cradling the heart in both hands, swam to the gap and placed the heart of Altantis where it belonged.
The gemstone spun in the air rapidly as green light poured out of it, running down the pillars and towards the walls. Every stone the light touched glowed a dazzlingly brilliant green. The rocks which had fallen onto the ground were lifted one by one, to the ceiling. The heart sparkled with energy as the green light spread, beyond the room with the heart to the rest of Atlantis. Sofin could hear the walls repairing themselves as the light reached them. The rumbling of the crumbling walls stopped. Somewhere far above them, Sofin knew the green light had just returned to the mermaid kingdom.
"It's not over yet!" called Oona. "We have to get out before your amulet loses its magic forever!"
Sofin looked down at his amulet. It was mostly gray by now, with only the occasional swirl of purple inside indicating that there was any magic left in it at all. They needed to get out, now! With renewed energy, Sofin swam out of the room, still holding the book from the thief's satchel, and Oona followed him.
They swam past the armory, which was shining with green light instead of red. The weapons had all returned to the suits of armor, which stood upright once more.
They swam past the map, where the fallen rock had been pulled back into the ceiling and the glass cover of the map had been fully restored.
They swam to the final corridor once more, and Sofin carefully avoided looking at the Divination Room. He didn't have time to be distracted again.
They swam to the exit, which was just a square vent leading up to the surface, easily visible now that Atlantis was lit once again. Sofin pushed up the vent, and he and Oona swam upwards through a tunnel. Before long, they reached the surface, popping out of the ground in what looked like a field, somewhere in the kingdom. Ripe plants of all shapes and sizes grew around them, including trees with bright blue fruits the size of apples and bushes with small yellow berries the size of blueberries. There was no sign of the thief anywhere around.
As soon as the two friends reached the surface, Sofin's amulet and Oona's comb began to glow in a bright, white, light. After a second when the light had died down, Sofin saw that his amulet, which had almost gone totally gray, was now swirling with purple magic, just as bright as when they had entered Atlantis. Its magic had been restored.
"We did it," said Sofin breathily to Oona. He laughed in relief. "We really did it!"
Oona whooped in joy and spun Sofin into a hug. "That's what I'm talking about!" she said, excitedly. "You were like a real whirlpool racer down there, you know? You even managed to get a speed boost from a whirlpool, on your very first time! Do you know how awesome that is?"
"I was terrified," confessed Sofin, laughing. "Not just in the whirlpool, the whole time. It was like I was living a nightmare down there."
"Me too," said Oona. "And thanks for talking some sense into me when I wanted to give up."
Sofin smiled brightly. "That's what friends are for!" he said, clutching Oona tightly in their hug. He pulled away, looking around at the trees and bushes around him. "Where are we?" he asked.
"We're in Merroway Orchard, I think," said Oona. "I probably shouldn't, but…" She reached down and pulled a couple ripe-looking yellow berries off their bushes. She handed one to Sofin. "Want to try a poofberry?"
Sofin took it in his hand, smiling. "You just saved the whole mermaid kingdom," he said. "I think that's worth a few berries." He popped the poofberry into his mouth, chewing. It tasted just like the milkshake. Soft and oh-so-sweet. He loved it.
"Is that the missing book?" asked Oona, pointing at the book in his other hand.
Sofin looked at the title. "Yeah. 'One Thousand Magical Artifacts'. It was in the thief's satchel before it tore apart." He opened the book. "Hey, three of the pages are bookmarked."
"The heart of Atlantis is one of them, I bet," guessed Oona.
Sofin flipped to the bookmarks, then, confused, moved to the table of contents. "Actually, no," he said. "The heart of Atlantis isn't in this book at all. And I think I know why."
"You do?" asked Oona.
Sofin nodded as he turned to the first bookmark. "When we were down there, my amulet and your comb both started losing their magic. The mermaids called Atlantis 'the end of all magic.' If the heart of Atlantis were a magical artifact, I think it would lose its power, too. I think it has to be something else."
"Not magic?" said Oona incredulously. "What else could it be?"
Sofin shrugged. He didn't know himself, but it all added up. Looking down, he skimmed the first bookmarked page. "Oona?" he asked, hesitantly. "Is it common for mermaids to have black tails?"
The mermaid princess shook her head. "I don't think I've seen any black-tailed mermaids myself, aside from the thief. But Merroway Cove isn't that big. I'm sure we can find that thief in no time, don't you worry."
Sofin pointed at the page. "That's just it," he said. "Look." Oona swam over to look at the page beside him.
The Pearl of Pangaea is a long-lost magical artifact from many millennia ago. Legends say it held the power to transform its owner into any creature for one day, but could only be used once. Scholars debate if this artifact ever truly existed, since the only evidence of its existence comes from stories passed down through generations.
"I don't think that thief was a mermaid at all," finished Sofin. "It could have been a human, using the Pearl of Pangaea."
"But humans don't even know mermaids exist!" said Oona. "How would she know to turn into a mermaid?"
Sofin shook his head. "I don't know," he answered. "Ugh. I feel like Altantis just opened up more questions than answers."
"Maybe the other bookmarks are helpful?" said Oona. Sofin flipped to the second bookmark, hoping it would be more helpful.
The Black Dagger is a dagger with the power to destroy any barrier it touches. Its current location is unknown.
Oona pointed at the picture. "That's the dagger the thief used to break the shield around the heart," she said. "Guess she must have found it to use."
"Yeah," agreed Sofin. Something was bugging him, something off about the thief that he felt like he should know but didn't. Not sure what it was, Sofin flipped to the third and final bookmark. It was past the main listings of magical artifacts in the book, and instead included in the appendix at the back. Sofin read the title. "'The Origins of Magic.'"
There is great debate on where exactly the magic fueling these artifacts comes from initially. Some argue that it simply exists in space until a sorcerer or magical creature imbues it into an artifact. When he was questioned about this, the great sorcerer Merlin purportedly said, "All magic flows from the Mystic Isles high above, through the EverRealm, and down towards Atlantis deep below." When asked to elaborate, Merlin gave no further comment.
Sofin squinted at the page. "Look," he said, "the words 'towards Atlantis deep below' are highlighted."
Oona furrowed her eyebrows. "Okay," she said, "but we already knew that Atlantis was the end of all magic. Figured that one out the hard way. But what does it all mean?"
Sofin shook his head. "I don't know. It's like there's a great big puzzle here and I'm missing half of the pieces." He sighed. "I shouldn't think about it too much. What matters is we saved the heart of Atlantis."
Oona's face broke into a wide smile once again. "We did. Together."
Sofin wanted to sit there all day, just enjoying Oona's pretty smile as he stared into her dark brown eyes. But he knew he was probably already almost out of time. "It's probably more than two hours by now," said Sofin. "I need to go back to the surface soon. And then, I'll have to go." A tear fell from his eye.
Oona pulled him into a deep hug, sniffling softly. "Promise you'll visit?" she said.
Sofin smiled softly. "Of course." He let the hug last, then pulled away.
Oona wiped a tear from her eye, then took the library book from Sofin's hand. "I should return this," she said. "And probably explain to everyone what happened with the lights going off." She looked down at the hole in the ground where they had arrived. "And maybe get this fixed, too." She looked back up at Sofin, fighting back tears. "Goodbye, Sofin. I'll miss you. I'm just glad we got to spend today together."
Sofin gave a sad smile. "Me too. Goodbye, Oona." And with those parting words, he swam towards the surface, to meet with his family, leaving Atlantis and the mermaids far behind.
Epilogue - Two Days Later
Sofin sat at a crowded table in the Enchancian castle library, books piled up all around him. He leafed through one of them, searching closely.
Amber, who was nearby, walked over to the studying prince. "Sofin, why do you have so many books open?" she asked. She looked at one of the books. "Is this on royal genealogy?"
Sofin nodded, still carefully looking through the pages of the book he had open. "It's just for…a project I'm doing," he lied. "I'm trying to search through all the princesses in history to see if I can find one with a specific name."
"Well," said his sister, taking a seat beside him. "You're in luck, since I already know most of the royals in history."
"You do?" asked Sofin.
"Well, I'm sure you'll learn them at Royal Prep someday," said Amber. "It's really quite important for a princess to know."
Sofin closed his book and set it aside. He looked directly at Amber and asked if she'd ever known a princess by the name he was looking for.
Amber tilted her head to one side, thinking. "No, I don't think so," she eventually said. "It isn't a noble name, after all." She looked at the pile of books beside him. "Sorry about your project."
"No, it's okay," said Sofin. He stood up from his seat, his mind churning. Not a single princess? Then why had he seen those two glowing words in the Divination Room, in Atlantis? Why did they cause him to lose focus while chasing the thief? Why did he feel like they were so wrong and yet so right at the same time? Why did saying those two words make his whole body tremble in anticipation?
Who was Princess Sofia, anyways?
Author's Note: Thanks for reading! With Atlantis done, the first big arc of the story is complete. But there seems to still be many mysteries for Sofin to uncover... well, we'll just have to wait and see what he figures out. Until next time!