~Fathom

It took Fathom three days to fly over the desert and to the Summer Palace. He was greeted by guards, and he realized that even though he had been gone for a while, they still looked at him the same way.

He already missed Indigo, Darkstalker, and Clearsight. He hoped they were all okay, and that Darkstalker was listening to the other's suggestions on limits of his power.

He walked down the halls, remembering sadly when Albatross brought him here several times. He noticed that the number of guards surrounding him slowly increased as he walked closer to the throne room. Did Pearl expect him to be insane? Or did she just think he would've brought weapons? Either way, Fathom thought that the guards weren't needed.

When he opened the doors to the throne room, Pearl stood before him. She was on the throne, yes, and when Fathom looked around he noticed that Wharf and Lionfish were among the collected guards.

"Brother." Pearl greeted him. "It's been a while. I'm glad you came."

"I'm glad to be back." Fathom replied. "But I'd also like to go back as soon as I can."

"Why did you leave the Night Kingdom?" Pearl asked.

Fathom sighed. He knew that he had to lie to her, but the truth was that he didn't want to. But he couldn't tell her that he'd broken his vow. She could never know. "When Indigo disappeared, I got worried…so after a while I searched for her." He told his sister what Clearsight had told him to say. Supposedly, she'll believe him, and he'll be back soon enough.

"I knew sending her with you was a bad idea." Pearl said. "Fathom, I need you to understand that even if you did find her, you still wouldn't be able to have her as yours. For her sake, remember?" Fathom nodded. "I assume your search was unsuccessful?"

"Yes. I didn't find her." Fathom replied.

"I'll send a search party. You can stay here or in your old room in the Deep Palace until they come back." Pearl said. "When they do, I'll send another guard to fly back with you. I believe you can take care of yourself, so they'll fly right back here once you're there."

"That sounds fine." Fathom said. "And I think I'll stay up here. May I have something to write with? I want to let Clearsight and Darkstalker know that I'm here and safe."

"You may." Pearl replied. "It will be sent to your room in a few hours. Until then, relax. I have a meeting with the leaders of a few villages underwater, and I'm throwing a ball tomorrow night to welcome some MudWing royalty that wish to form an alliance for a while. You can attend any events you wish."

"Thank you." Fathom said. He bowed briefly, and then left the throne room.

…

He finally found one of the rooms he had helped Albatross design, which was always meant to be his. It was small, and didn't draw much attention. No one even looked at it most of the time. His paper and ink came shortly after he rearranged a few things, along with a small bowl to wash his talons in. Fathom started writing a letter to Darkstalker.

Dear Darkstalker

I'm at the Summer Palace as I'm writing this. If you need any help or suggestions, just send me a letter and I'll try to help. If I can, I should be back soon. If anything bad happened, I need you to tell me soon so then I can see if Pearl will let me leave early.

-Fathom

He waited until the ink dried and his talons were ink-free before he handing it to a passing servant, saying, "Please send this to the dragon it's addressed to as soon as your able. And, if possible, can you also get me some wood, please?"

The servant nodded, and they walked away.

Fathom walked over to his bed and sat down. He wondered where Blob was. The little wooden octopus had to be in the NightWing palace somewhere. He wasn't sure if Indigo took him with them when they left. If she did, then he was probably lost in the forest on that island. Poor Blob. Maybe another dragon would find him?

A servant came to the door, and sat four small blocks of wood on the small table by the door. "Thank you." Fathom said. The servant just walked away, muttering a list of some sort.

Fathom got up from his bed and walked over to the table. He sat back down again, and started doing what he had made his hobby.