Chapter Eight
Meanwhile on the patio…
Alex couldn't understand why Melody ran off. He glanced down at the mug he was holding. She couldn't be mad at him for not drinking this, could she?
The drink smelled sweet, but it had been too hot. In fact, most of the meal had been too hot. Or dry. During his time in the town, Alex had been able to see a few of the townspeople do baking in their shops. They had things called ovens that contained fire. Great Uncle Archimedes had explained to Alex long ago how the fire caused the water inside the food to leave. Atlantica didn't have anything like ovens and most of the food was cool. Alex had watched his mother make kelp cookies, and that mostly just involved mixing everything together and then plopping blobs of the dough on a rock for them to dry in the sun. Once the cookies were brought back under the water, they became moist again, but the drying process kept everything together.
"Is she all right?" Mr. Andersen asked.
Alex snapped back to attention. Melody's parents and King Triton were looking between themselves and him.
"I better go check," Queen Ariel rose from her chair.
"I'll come, too." Alex quickly took a sip of the cooled down hot chocolate. The drink was creamy and sweet. But again, it was just too sweet like that sticky bun in town had been. Alex wasn't used to food tasting like that.
"Triton!" A voice thundered from the ocean as lighting broke across the sky and dark clouds blotted out the sun.
Alex dove behind a nearby bush and turned to see a tidal wave rise from the sea. The strange thing was, the wave was staying in place. And there was a woman at the top, perched upon it as if the water was just a chair to her. The storm clouds and wave moved forward to the shore; the woman wasn't surprised by the movement. It was almost as if she knew where the water was going.
"Who is that?" King Eric asked.
"It can't be." King Triton rose from his chair and held his trident in front of him. If Alex didn't know any better, he would say the King of the Ocean looked scared.
The stranger was now walking on shore, heading towards the dinner party.
"Daddy, who is that?" Queen Ariel repeated Eric's question.
"I am Saleen," the stranger answered for herself. "Siren of the sea. Daughter of the water. Belle of the swell. And very, very angry."
"Saleen, it is…" King Triton tried to talk.
"You are unworthy of that trident." Saleen waved her hand, and the trident flew out of Triton's hands onto the grass.
Everyone gasped as the trident flew out of their King's hands. Alex shuddered at how powerful Saleen must be. Everyone in Atlantica said over and over how the trident had the power to control the water. Here was someone able to control the trident itself.
"Explain yourself. Where are your fins?" The storm cloud above Saleen's head raged.
Alex's gaze shifted back to where the trident had landed, but it was gone! His eyes darted around the palace grounds, hoping he had been mistaken in where the trident landed. But all he caught a glimpse of were black tentacles retreating into the palace.
"Melody!"
Alex's feet still hurt as he raced inside the palace on the stone steps. Once inside the palace, he had no idea where to go. But there was a thin trail of saltwater and slime left on the floor. This was Alex's guide as he ran through hallways and up stairs.
The trail ended in front of an open doorway, where voices could be heard. There was a lone suit of armor in the hallway, and after wrestling with it for a few minutes, Alex was able to get the sword free. Only to drop it a few seconds later as it was too heavy.
Things were never this heavy in Atlantica.
Alex grabbed the helmet instead and rushed into the bedroom. All he saw was Morgana, holding the trident and laughing triumphantly. Her victory was short lived as an invisible force yanked the trident from Morgana's hands.
"No!" Morgana shouted as the trident flew from her hands out the window. The sea witch followed, arms outstretched.
"Melody!" Alex shouted, but there was no response. He spun around the room, searching for his friend or anywhere she could be hiding. The only thing that seemed out of place was a book laying open on the floor.
"Melody!" Queen Ariel and King Eric raced into the room. The Queen turned to Alex, who was picking up the book, "Where is she?"
"I think…I think she's in here." Alex held out the open text.
The page had an illustration of a mermaid holding her prince above the waves. This must be the part of the story where the mermaid saved the prince from drowning. But unlike in the story Mr. Andersen just told, in the corner was another mermaid watching the other two.
And this mermaid looked exactly like Melody.