And now, we return to our party, waiting for Hoop to return with what she called the "breath plant".
2222222222
Chapter 10: The Reef Kingdom of the Dolphins
2222222222
For five minutes the group of humans had been waiting for the blue and white dolphin called Hoop to return with something called "breath plant" so that Palom and Porom could come and help the dolphins. But it seemed like they'd been waiting for hours.
"She's got to be back sometime," Sefi reasoned.
"She did say that the reef was three miles down," Angel reminded her twin. "It must take a while to get there and then back up here."
"Does it matter either way to you?" The elder inquired. "You're not even going."
"So?" Sefi asked feeling pretty ticked off with the elder's behavior. "You can't tell me what I can and can't want," She said.
"Sefi, have you noticed that there's something not quite right about the elder today?" Angel whispered to Sefi.
"Yeah: he's suddenly the meanest person I've yet to meet," Sefi said quietly.
"Exactly. He wasn't like this when we were here before," Angel answered. "He was nice before. He was even willing to buy us some time. And he listened to what Porom said before. Now he scorns everything that she suggests and says that we're silly for listening to her."
"What do you mean?" Sefi asked.
"I think that there's something other than just the water wrong here," Angel said.
She was about to say more, but she was cut off by Hoop resurfacing with a mouthful of a silvery seaweed looking plant. She swam up to the water's edge and put the plants on the ground in front of everyone.
"This is the breath plant," She explained. "If you eat it, you'll be able to breath under water for the rest of your life; but you can still breathe on land," She explained
"Useful, no?"
"Very useful, indeed," Palom said, picking up part of the plant and looking it over.
"Does it taste alright?" Porom asked.
"It's not the best taste in the world, but it's not half bad. Don't be shy; eat it," Hoop said.
The twin mages both took a deep breath and crammed some of the plant into their mouths. They both grimaced and swallowed the plant quickly. They stood there waiting for something to happen or feel different, but nothing happened.
"What happens now?" Palom asked.
"Now you and your sister come with me to the reef and help us." Hoop said.
"Well, let's go then," Palom said, and took off his robe. Porom untied the string of her cloak and let it flutter to the ground. She also removed her chopsticks and let her long brown hair fall down her back. Everyone was mildly surprised; they'd never seen Porom with her hair down.
"We'll be back later," She said over her shoulder and headed for the water.
"Wait," Sefi said, noting that there was still a little bit of breath plant left. "Can I come with?" She asked.
"I don't mind; we can always use some extra help," Hoop said. "But what does you family think?" She asked.
"Mom, daddy, can I go?" Sefi asked her parents.
Cecil and Rosa looked at each other as if reading their minds. After a second, Cecil nodded and said, "Go on with them. We'll be up here if you need anything."
Sefi picked up the last of the breath plant, broke it in half, and handed half of it to Angel. But Angel shook her head and pushed it away.
"I'm staying here this time," She said. "You and Palom and Porom have fun down there, Sef."
"You're sure?" Sefi asked.
"Yup. Sure as I'll ever be," Angel said confidently. "There's some snooping that I want to do up here. If I'm right, there's something really bad going on and it could be linked to Conch's disappearance," She explained in a lower voice so that only Sefi could hear.
"Oh, I gotcha," Sefi said, and put half of the breath plant into her mouth. To her, it tasted a bit like okra (which she hated) sautéed in onions (which she loved), so it balanced out a bit. She finished chewing the plant and swallowed quickly and went to join Palom, Porom, and Hoop.
"To the reef!" Hoop squeaked, jumped in the air, did a back flip, and dove gracefully into the water.
"Follow that dolphin!" Palom shouted, and dove in after Hoop with Porom and Sefi close behind him.
"Now then… What do we do until they get back?" Kain asked.
"Go back to the tower, I suppose," The elder said, and began walking back towards the city. "Oh? But don't you want to stay and lecture the others about how they didn't find out anything from that silly dolphin, and that you were right and they were wrong?" Angel asked meanly.
The elder looked back and glared at her but resumed his walking. Angel half expected someone to kick here from behind for that statement, but the adults started laughing.
"That was very clever, Angel," Kain said.
"I couldn't have said it better, myself," Rosa added.
"Thanks. I like to think I come up with something original every now and then," Angel said, and headed back the way the elder was going.
2222222222
Palom, Porom and Sefi also found that, in addition to being able to breath under water, they could swim better as well. Following the dolphin wasn't as hard as they'd thought it would be.
In about 15 minutes the large reef finally came into focus. The reef was huge; the entire sea floor for miles around was one big marine city. The layout reminded Sefi of Baron City. It was fun to look at the various water-worn rock structures and large coral that might be homes or other buildings. But if Rydia had been there she would have said that it was much more like the Land of Summons than anywhere else, even though it really wasn't like the Land of Summons at all. Some rocks were elevated, but some were set lower to the ground. There seemed to be paths and trails in some places, but they were very faint.
At any other time, the "streets" would have been full of movement; fathers making their livings, mothers keeping house, children playing, and teenagers going about their varied and ever-changing ways. Now, what with the poison rampant, everyone was hiding. No one was about today. When the quartet approached, the few things that were out scattered and swam home for respect of the dolphin captain and fear of the humans.
At the very center of the city was a large castle-looking form of coral. Hoop began swimming toward it and said to the humans, "Our queen, Artiria, resides here. You must come to see her."
"What's the queen like?" Sefi asked, surprised that she could speak so well under the water (another side effect of the breath plant).
"She's a good queen; but she can be very cold at times. Her mood hasn't been the best since the king vanished. You'll have to forgive her if she comes off as snobbish or mean," Hoop explained.
No one said anything to this, but followed Hoop on to the castle of coral.
2222222222
Back on the surface, Angel was keeping a very close eye on the elder, who was continuing to act strange. Now that she knew there was something going on her paladin senses had suddenly grown sharper and she could feel it. She wondered if Cecil and Rosa could feel it too; if they did they didn't show it, so Angel continued to milk what she could from the vibe that she had. She was determined to use this as a personal vibe-work test, and wasn't going to go to her parents until she found something very important.
So far she just felt the tingly sensation and when she focused on it she only got a mental picture of the elder. She focused harder but got nothing more.
This is supposed to be a test. This is supposed to be difficult, She told herself. I've just got to look at this from every possible angel and think about it. A shiver went down her back for a reason that she couldn't quite pin-point. Maybe it was being so close to Mount Ordeals again.
I wonder how far the others have gotten by now…She thought, and returned to sharpening her sword. It was the only thing that she could find to keep from pacing about the room and acting shady and suspicious whenever the elder walked by.
"You should give your sword a rest, or you'll wear it down to a twig," Kain advised from the kitchen door.
Angel looked up at him reproachfully. "I haven't been sharpening it for that long, you know," She said.
"You've been at it for the past hour and a half," Kain pointed out.
Angel gently touched the tip of the blade to her fingertip as if it were a feather; she drew blood without doing anything at all.
"Nice and sharp, just the way I like it," Angel remarked, slipping the sword back into its sheath and sticking her finger in her mouth.
"You seem tense," Kain noted. "Have you been sharpening that sword because you were just bored, or was there another reason?" He asked.
Angel took her finger out of her mouth and said, "There might be; I don't know yet."
"If there's a problem you should tell your parents. They'll know what to do," Kain suggested.
"Not yet," Angel refused. "I want to do this first part on my own."
2222222222
The coral castle was much larger on the inside than it had looked from the outside. It extended back half a mile, and bits of coral seemed to grow out of the walls and form room and corridors. In the very back was the throne room, where queen Artiria was waiting. The other dolphins around stared at the trio of humans, some with curiosity and others with suspicion, as Hoop guided them through the many twists and turns of the structure.
Sefi thought that it was very neat that every dolphin had a different pattern of blue on its back and white on its underside. Once she saw a pair of small dolphins with the same markings and wondered if they might be twins. The idea made her smile.
If we can't stop the poison, they'll probably die, She thought bitterly. We've got to fix this.
A high coral wall suddenly blocked their way and they had to stop. "Wait here for a moment while I tell the queen you're here," Hoop said, and swam up over the wall. While the humans were waiting, the pair of dolphin twins swam over to them.
"Hello," The smaller of the two said sweetly. "I'm Kivey. And this is my little brother, Sido. Who are you?"
"I'm Palom, this is my sister, Porom, and this is Sefi," Palom said, pointing to each person in turn.
"Nice to meet you," Sido said. "So, what are you doing down here, land-walkers?" He asked.
"We're here to help with the poison," Porom explained.
The eyes of both dolphins went wide.
"You mean you're going to make the water good again?" Kivey asked happily.
"Yes, we are," Sefi answered, feeling her heart go out to the dolphin children. They seemed so young; they shouldn't have to endure this.
Hoop appeared over the wall again and called out, "The queen will see you now. Come on."
Porom turned to the dolphin children and smiled. "We've got to go now. It was nice meeting you," She said; she sounded like she'd worked with small kids a lot in the past.
"Alright. Have fun," Sido said and swam off.
"Bye now," Kivey said and swam after her brother.
As they watched the brother and sister swim away, Hoop came up to them and said, "I see that you've become acquainted with Silver's children. Sweet calves, no?" Her sudden an unseen presence caught everyone off guard and made them all jump.
"Please don't do that again," Palom requested.
"No worries; just come along now," Hoop said, and led them back over the wall.
The other side was a large coral-walled room with two large rocks against the far wall. The one on the right was empty. But one of the biggest and most elegant dolphin of them all was resting on top of the left rock.
"Queen Artiria, may I introduce Palom and Porom, the mages, and their friend, Sefi," Hoop said, leading the group across the room. The dolphin queen looked the three humans over with a critical eye and didn't say anything for a minute.
"Small favors, indeed," Said the queen in a voice which was low but full of grace. She rose from her throne and moved toward the mages.
"You both have magic, do you?" She asked, bringing her voice back up; at a normal volume her voice could make a large room like this seem very cramped. Palom and Porom suddenly felt very, very small compared to the dolphin; they couldn't say anything so they nodded their heads.
"Good," Said the queen. "Then you'll be able to help us. You," She said, turning to Sefi and staring at her sharply, "I don't know about. Do you have magic?" She asked. S
efi shook her head timidly.
"Do you do anything useful?" She asked.
"Well… uh… I'm training to be a dark archer," Sefi said, hoping that Artiria wouldn't get angry with her for not using magic.
"I don't know what that is," Artiria said dismissively. "Can dark archers help us?" She asked.
"Of course I can help. I came to help Palom and Porom," Sefi said, once again feeling that the queen might get very mad at her for something.
"No, I mean can you help us: my citizens and I. Perhaps we dolphins and fish are having a pretty difficult time getting by, but the sharks are having the time of their lives. We aren't safe with the brutes running rampant. Can you help us hold them off until this crisis is resolved?" Artiria asked Sefi.
The purple haired girl thought about this arrangement. She'd really wanted to go and help her friends, but she could tell that the citizens were having problems here. They'd need help until things were fixed.
"I'll stay and help you," Sefi agreed.
"Wonderful. Thank you," Artiria said, perking up a little bit. Apparently this was the first thing that had gone right in a few days.
"Now, off with you, mages. I'm told that the boulders are found about a mile from the cave. And the cave shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm not sure what will happen then," Artiria explained. "You may go now; but I'd like the dark haired one to stay with me," She said. Hoop and the mages all bowed and turned to leave.
"Good luck," Sefi called to them.
"Thanks. Try and have fun here," Palom advised.
"I'll try," Sefi promised, and watched them swim away.
"So, calf," Artiria said to Sefi once they were alone, "It's just you and me now. Let's get to work."
2222222222
It might strike some who aren't well versed in marine biology as odd that Hoop called Kivey and Sido calves, and that Artiria just called Sefi a calf. For those of you who don't know, a baby dolphin is called a calf; so are baby manatees and whales. Appropriately, females are called cows and males are called bulls. Thought you ought to know: there's going to be a lot of dolphin lingo in the future.
I also think it might be kinda fun to picture the dolphins with Australian accents. I just thought that it would be a nice and interesting change of pace, ya know? Heehee...
Oh yes, and I believe that Rydia will be making an appearance sometime in the near future; her connection to Leviathan, and all. And yes, there is indeed more to the elder than meets the eye. It's terrible, I assure you. It's like the surprise of Rydia's death a few chapters back. I'm evil to do this, I know. Another chapter in a few days. Bye!