Polvina, Seretao, Duante and Miss Marla were heading down into the Abysmal Kingdom. The water became darker and colder as they continued going deeper. Usually there would be various types of abysmal fish lurking or swimming around, but because it was wartime and the abysmal fish were being fed well, there was just an eerie silence that would drive ordinary beings insane.
On their way down to the Abysmal Kingdom, Polvina still had a lingering question. "Seretao, if this is about the Staff of Oblivion, then why did you ask us to see Thorn? I mean, we didn't need to have to go to the prison for you to tell us you were manipulating him."
Seretao replied, "Because I thought it would have more impact if Thorn told you about the Shark King. Also, after we get the Staff of Oblivion, I want to get Thorn's crown, which is also being kept in the Abysmal Kingdom."
"Why do you need it?" asked Polvina.
"Because it belonged to my grandfather, the Mermaid King. Legend says that he cursed it with his last breath so anyone who used it would be granted his power, but anyone who isn't of the Mermaid Royal Family blood would be driven insane. That's how I learnt my mistake with Thorn. Anyway, once I get it, I'm hoping to use both the Staff of Oblivion and the crown to expose the Shark King's plans."
Miss Marla went up to Polvina to talk to her. "Polvina, I noticed your little argument with Ester and Tubarina earlier. Is everything alright?"
"It's fine. I just got a little angry, that's all," Polvina replied. "I don't know why I'm surprised at this point, I should have expected them to be like that."
"You know, you didn't have to come down to the Abysmal Kingdom with us, Polvina. We could have met back up with you after we got what we needed, yet you insisted on coming with us. Then again, I would have expected no less from the most intelligent of the Divine Princesses. And as the legends say, the Divine Princesses care about their friends and each other just as much as they care about their adventures, their discoveries and the sea."
"Thanks, Miss Marla. I should apologise to Ester and Tubarina later. Their antics might rub me the wrong way, but they are still my friends."
Miss Marla chided, "Now, Polvina, just because they're your friends doesn't mean you have to excuse their antics. I've seen how you three interact with each other at school. Remember the time you were caught in the middle of Ester and Tubarina arguing about whose father was right? Friends argue and make up all the time, and sometimes they grow together as well. People grow through the lessons they learn, and they don't have to come from other people. They can come from each other."
Polvina thought for a moment. "You know what? I think Ester and Tubarina need me to teach them a lesson sometimes. I just hope they'll be mature enough to understand."
"Exactly. You have a duty to keep your friends in check just as they have a duty to keep you in check, and I know Ester and Tubarina will take your advice to heart, just as you will with their advice."
Eventually, the group reached the Abysmal Palace. The Abysmal Royal Family were nowhere to be found; the Abysmal King and Queen were leading a front on another part of the planet while Bia had gone somewhere else as well, with no one having heard from her in a couple of years.
The group went to a secret chamber where Bia had kept the Staff of Oblivion in a vault, where she usually kept it if she was at home.
"How would you be able to use the Staff, Seretao? Only its guardian can use it," Polvina asked.
Seretao replied, "The Mermaid King was the Staff's guardian before Bia was. Hopefully, being his grandson, I should be able to take control of the Staff's power."
After coming out of the secret chamber with the Staff, the group went down a ladder behind a secret door in the throne room and headed into a cave, which Thorn had once made his base. Seretao found the secret compartment where Thorn's, or rather, the Mermaid King's, crown was being kept and opened it, only to find…
"It's gone!" Seretao began to panic. "Who else could have known the crown was being kept here?"
"All the kings and queens do," said Duante. "The Shark King announced his intentions publicly after Thorn's defeat, as he always does."
"But which king or queen could have had the time to come down here?"
"Can we not argue about this right now?" said Polvina. "We should get back to Ester and Tubarina. I don't want to keep them waiting."
With this, the group left the Abysmal Palace and made their way back to Salacia. Unbeknownst to them, the one who took Thorn's crown had already arrived in Salacia and was on their way back to their kingdom…
Earlier that day, Whale King Giddeon was in an appointment with his doctor. Giddeon had noticed something wrong with his body as he got sick more often and he had sores all over his body. After doing numerous tests, his doctor gave Giddeon the results, which left him stunned.
"Are you sure?" Giddeon asked.
"Yes," the doctor replied. "Your tests show that you have tested positive to what Drylanders call human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. If left untreated, it could advance into something called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Your Highness, have you had any sexual partners other than your wife?"
"No, I haven't, but I know Baleia volunteers as…"
"An escort for Salacian soldiers on Dryland," the two of them responded.
"We can't tell exactly when you were infected or how long it'll be until it goes to the next stage, let alone how long you'll even live. There are treatments available on Dryland, but it's been impossible to get them here, even before the war."
"Could there be others who have HIV or AIDS as well? What about my children?"
"On Dryland, yes, but down here, it's hard to say. We'd have to get your children tested to know. Now, Your Highness, you know as well as I do that your wife likes to sleep around with anyone she lays her eyes on. It's very likely she got HIV while having unprotected sex with someone that has it as well. Chances are that she doesn't know she even has HIV or that she is infectious. Although…"
Giddeon was intrigued. "What is it, doctor?"
"Your Highness, have you heard of a town called Astanucia?"
"Vaguely, yes. Baleia mentioned it to me a while back. She told me not to go there. Wasn't that the town where everyone suddenly disappeared not long ago?"
"That's the one. Here, have a read of this."
The doctor showed Giddeon a newspaper from Astanucia. Apparently, Whale Queen Baleia was a sex symbol of the town, having moonlighted as an escort there for over a decade. Her clients included men and women alike and they all enjoyed her company. Some months back, however, some of Baleia's clients began to fall ill.
"When we realised that those people were infected with HIV, the Shark King ordered us to send the infected to a special facility in the Farlands and relocate the uninfected elsewhere. Not long after that, the Shark King fired missiles on the facility and destroyed it, killing all the patients, the nurses and the doctors. It was covered up as a Drylander attack so the Shark King didn't have to worry about the innocent people he killed as collateral."
"Why are you telling me this?" asked Giddeon.
The doctor replied, "Because once the Shark King knows you and your family have HIV, he will stop at nothing to keep it under wraps while also preventing more people from being infected. Also, if I may be frank, Your Highness, if there is anyone who can bring justice to us doctors, the nurses and the families of the infected and innocent, it can only be you."
Giddeon left his doctor, still confused about what was happening. He didn't want to believe anything he was told was true, but he wanted to find out for himself if it was, so he set off for the town of Astanucia.
He got to Astanucia and saw that it was a ghost town. Although it was in the middle of nowhere, the town wasn't cordoned off because the war was more important at the moment and civilians were advised not to travel far for their own safety. As such, the propaganda posters left behind remained up months after the city had been abandoned. "DANGER AIDS." "NO CURE FOR AIDS." "PREVENTION IS THE ONLY CURE WE'VE GOT." On a newsstand, the newspapers were the exact same one the doctor had, the last issue the town published, from the pictures of Whale Queen Baleia on the front and back and the article he read back at the doctor's office.
Gradually, the pieces began to come together for Giddeon. The Shark King was willing to sacrifice people's lives to avoid having to deal with an HIV epidemic. Baleia wanted to keep Astanucia a secret because she unknowingly caused the epidemic and was ashamed to admit it. She most likely got HIV on one of her Dryland conquests and unknowingly spread it to her husband, possibly even their children as well. It was then that Giddeon knew he had to do something; to let the people who died in the missile attack rest in peace; to bring closure to the families seeking answers; and to prevent anyone else, including his own family, from suffering under the shadow of this seemingly untreatable and incurable disease.
"I'll make them pay," Giddeon said to himself.
He recalled the time after Thorn's capture when he and the other kings were examining his crown. When the other kings touched the crown, they found themselves (for lack of a better term) going paranoid, as if their own power suddenly went to their heads. When the Shark King Trebon touched it, however, it didn't affect him. The other kings were fearful of the crown's power and the Shark King had it hidden in the cave that was formerly Thorn's base, where it would be safely stored and forgotten, until now.
Giddeon went down into the Abysmal Kingdom and headed to the cave where Thorn's crown was hidden. He opened the secret compartment, took the crown, closed it and left, unaware that Polvina, Seretao, Duante and Miss Marla were headed for the Abysmal Palace.
Giddeon returned to the Whale Palace, where he was greeted by his wife, the Whale Queen Baleia, whose name sounded like nobody made an effort to think of one. "Welcome back, dear. How was your trip?" Baleia asked. She became uneasy as Giddeon menacingly stared at her in the face. "W-W-Why the long face? Is everything fine?"
Giddeon slowly responded. "Oh, yes, everything's fine. I went to the doctor today and learnt that I have something. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"What do you mean? What would I have to do with what you have?"
"Does the town of Astanucia mean anything to you? The doctor told me that what I have appears to be linked to that town, so I took a little trip and let me tell you, I have learnt so, so much."
Baleia felt a chill going through her body. "Y-Y-You went to Astanucia? What would you want with that weird and dangerous place?"
"Does this refresh your memory?" Giddeon showed Baleia the local newspaper from the town. "You seem to be very famous there. You know as well as I do that you have many subscribers on OnlyFish, you moonlight as an escort in different towns and you volunteer your services as a comfort woman for our brave men fighting on Dryland. So why would you tell me not to go there like you were trying to deflect my attention?"
Baleia started to become frantic at the sight of the paper. She realised what was happening with Giddeon and why he confronted her with what he learnt. She kept moving away from him as he kept moving closer. "No… don't tell me you're- ahh!"
Giddeon had punched Baleia, causing her to fall backwards before picking her back up by the collar of her dress. "That's right. I'm HIV-positive." He continued to violently interrogate her, every question punctuated with an emotional blow of hate. "Who did you get it from? How many people have you infected? Did you infect our children as well?"
Baleia was struggling to respond between each hit, begging for mercy as she cried. "No, please, I- uhh! I swear, I don't know who I got it from- ahh! I never realised I had it until the papers reported what happened- wahh!"
Meanwhile, a couple of whales were bringing some princes and princesses to the Whale Palace. They were Leia, Caramelo, Naimo, Saula, Marli, Isa, Nico and Nicole, who had just come back from a meeting at the War Rooms.
"Who's up for a barbeque tonight?" asked Leia.
"We could get to your palace faster if we used carriages instead of whales," retorted Marli.
As they approached the Whale Palace, everyone saw that the door was open and heard the cries of the Whale Queen. Leia commented, "Hey, the door's open! I think Mother's in trouble, and Father's carriage is parked right outside!"
When the whale stopped, Leia and the others got off and hurried inside to see Baleia being battered by her husband. "Father! What are you doing?" cried a horrified Leia.
Giddeon let Baleia drop to the ground as he turned to the young royals. "Ahh, you're back, Leia and Naimo. That will make my mission much easier." He took off his whale crown and put on the cursed crown formerly used by the Shadow King Thorn and the Mermaid King.
The power of the crown went into Giddeon as Baleia futilely warned the young royals. "Children, run and get help!" A wave of darkness blasted out of Giddeon's body as tentacles of darkness began to come out of his body, accosting everyone in the room. Leia quickly got out her phone and called someone while defending herself and her friends from the dark tentacles.