Salacia was split following the conflict between the pro-war and anti-war factions. The Shark King was intent on continuing operations as normal despite the schism in Salacia's armies, while the Turtle King and his allies withdrew to construct plans against the Shark King.

Marcello and Dinho went back to their palaces for the time being, while Polvina, Ester and Tubarina went to the Starfish Palace, heading up to Ester's room to process what happened.

"Are you sure we should be talking here?" asked Ester. "I mean, Seretao turned out to be a traitor and our kingdoms are pro-war. What if someone hears us and tells the Shark King?"

Tubarina replied, "All the kings and queens will be at the War Rooms. I know a lot of them stay there for days at a time given how far their palaces can be and how frequently they have to meet. Also, I'd think our butlers and servants would have better things to do THAN LISTENING IN ON GIRL TALKS!" She paused after shouting at the end to hear if anyone was listening.

Polvina asked, "So, what do you girls think? Should we visit Thorn like Seretao told us?"

"Who said we? Seretao was asking for me to see Thorn."

Ester wondered, "Why are you even listening to him, Tubarina? It's clear he's got some kind of agenda against your father."

"Even if he does, we don't know what it is. The next time I see Seretao, I want to hear him out to see what he has to say, but for now, I want to see what Thorn has to do with him."

"But Tubarina, don't you remember what happened the last time someone asked you to head to the prison?" Polvina was referring to how Mr Chain and Weasel lured Tubarina to her death years ago by having them come to see them in prison first. "We won't let you go to the prison without us."

"Oh, fine. If you're so worried about me, then by all means, feel free to come along." The girls got up and set off.

Thorn and Duante are people whom the main trio of princesses have met in the past.

Thorn was originally a minister in the Abysmal Kingdom and a close friend of the Abysmal King and Queen. In one version of history, Thorn abducted the Abysmal King and Queen and crowned himself as the Shadow King, inviting all manner of creatures and salines to move to the Abysmal Kingdom, offering them safety from the Drylanders at the cost of balance in Salacia. His ultimate goal was to use the Staff of Oblivion to make everyone in Salacia recognise him as the true and sovereign king of Salacia. In another version of history, Thorn's plans were discovered and he was stopped before he could overthrow the Abysmal King and Queen or use the Staff of Oblivion. In either case, Thorn was arrested and charged with (attempting to commit) treason and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Shark Kingdom prison.

Duante is not a prince, but a self-proclaimed healer who travels around Salacia, helping any sick creature he finds. He not only has the ability to speak to every creature, but to understand them as well. During his travels, Duante encountered Ester, who wanted to learn more about him and show him to her family and friends, despite his insistence on being alone and secretive which he never told her about, which made him look like a wandering asshole with how he evaded Ester's questioning and disappeared when she turned around. The only silver lining from that encounter was that Ester knew what his name was. Years later when he showed up again, Ester was determined to find out what Duante's deal was, especially with his association with Seretao.

Tubarina arrived at the Shark Kingdom prison with Polvina and Ester. Upon approaching the door guard, they were let in without any fuss. "Ahh, Your Highnesses, we've been expecting you. I'm here to take you to the one you're looking for."

Tubarina was confused at the sudden leniency given her last visit. "Really? You're not going to tell us about the 20 minute limit?" Polvina and Ester were confused upon hearing this.

"No, no, please, go on in."

The girls proceeded into the prison with the door guard accompanying them. The corridors of jeering prisoners would have spooked the princesses had they visited as children, but at this point in their lives, they had seen and heard so much that such a sight didn't faze them as much as it would have.

As the girls passed by the medical ward, they met Mr Chain, who was wheeling Weasel around in his wheelchair. "Ah, Princess Tubarina. I see you've come to visit again, and you brought your friends along too."

Tubarina replied, "Believe it or not, I didn't come to visit you."

Mr Chain chuckled. "Of course. Why would we be worthy enough to get a visit from you? So tell me, who're you here to see?"

"Thorn."

Mr Chain's demeanour suddenly turned dark. "Ooh, good luck dealing with him. The guy's so famous they couldn't keep him in gen pop with everyone else. I'm surprised the Shark King even sent him here. Anyway, good day to you."

"Yeah, same."

Polvina and Ester were confused. "Why is he so friendly with you?" Ester wondered. "Don't tell me… you came here to talk with him! No wonder you didn't get the message from Miss Marla!"

"What even made you think of the idea in the first place?" Polvina questioned.

An exasperated Tubarina replied, "I thought Carlos Chain would know more about Dryland then Miss Marla or any of us. Why are you so concerned, anyway? It's not like he or Weasel can do anything to us again."

"That may be so, but you should have told us first," said Ester.

"So you can stop me from seeing him? That's exactly why I didn't tell you two."

"No, we would have gone with you just to make sure you wouldn't get into trouble," said Polvina.

"By Salacia, Polvina, we're not children anymore. I'm capable of looking out for myself."

The girls finally reached the section of the prison where Thorn was being held. Inside, Thorn was held in a plexiglass cell with his arms locked in chains inside PVC hoses. The guards could extend the chain reels so he could move freely in his cell or retract them if they needed to restrain him. The girls looked at Thorn and remembered the fear they felt when they confronted him in the Abysmal Kingdom all those years ago. Without his crown or the Staff of Oblivion however, he merely looked pathetic, something that the girls had little pity for.

"Thorn!" Tubarina called. "Once the Shadow King, now a traitor brought to justice."

He replied, "If you are here to make fun of me, then do your worst. I already know what the others say about me, both in the rest of the prison and outside."

"You honestly think my father or I would have the time to make fun of you? I swear, criminals like you and Carlos Chain are all the same. Look, I'm done bullshitting here. Seretao said I needed to see you."

Thorn's interest was piqued at the mention of the name. "Seretao? The Mermaid Prince? I have not heard that name in years."

"Wait, Mermaid Prince? Nobody told us he was a prince." Tubarina looked at Polvina and Ester, who were just as confused as her. "Also, I thought mermaids were mythical. There is no way a Mermaid Kingdom could even exist."

It was then that they heard a voice behind the other side of Thorn's cell. "You're right, there isn't a Mermaid Kingdom… because it was destroyed before you were born." It was Seretao, who had come with Duante and Miss Marla.

Polvina asked, "Miss Marla? Why are you with them?"

"Because I want to see an end to this war just as much as you do," explained Miss Marla. "The only difference is that we don't want to see Salacia split over how we should end it."

Duante added, "It's not surprising that the Shark King and Turtle King are fighting over this. They have forgotten the ultimate will of the goddess Salacia, for Salacia and Dryland to return to harmony."

Ester asked, "So, how did the Mermaid Kingdom get destroyed?"

Miss Marla began her expository speech. "A long time ago, mermaids existed on this planet. They were magical creatures who had the power to control water, causing floods and storms. When the Laws of Salacia were created, many mermen and mermaids routinely disobeyed them as they preyed on Drylanders with their power to seduce or send Drylanders to their deaths. But not all of them were like that. Some of us liked to help other Salacians and sea creatures because they had the power to heal them."

Duante continued the exposition. "Eventually, it got to the point where the other kingdoms turned on the Mermaid Kingdom for their actions. The Mermaid Royal Family were forced to flee to Dryland; while the Mermaid Princess managed to escape with the help of a Drylander, the Mermaid King died in battle holding off his enemies' armies so that his daughter could escape."

Seretao finished off their explanation. "The Mermaid Princess married the Drylander who saved her and they had a child. The Shark King tracked them down and invited them to Salacia to sign a peace treaty, but it was a trap. The Mermaid Princess and her partner were killed at the hands of the Shark King."

"So what happened to their child?" asked Polvina.

"That child… was me. I was left at an orphanage before my parents went into Salacia. I became a mercenary as I grew up, then by the will of the goddess Salacia, I was guided back to the sea as the war between Salacia and Dryland broke out."

Miss Marla added, "I was the one who found Seretao when he came back and told him about what happened to his kingdom. We found Duante later on and together, we began working on ending the war and bringing peace between Salacia and Dryland."

"What does Thorn have to do with all this?" asked Tubarina.

Seretao replied, "I was the one who enabled Thorn, set him on his path of insurrection and treason. I made him a tool to stop the Shark King, but he failed because he was incompetent. If it weren't for that, I would have been happy to recruit him to our cause."

Hearing this, Thorn bellowed, "You told me you could bring peace between the two worlds if I did what you said!"

"Yes, but you failed to realise that the Abysmal Princess, Bia, was the daughter of the Abysmal King and Queen and that she was masquerading under a false identity. That crown of yours inflated your hubris fatally and that's why you failed. Then again, I can't blame you entirely because the Staff of Oblivion only scrambled everyone's memories of Bia. There were bound to be traces left behind."

"W-W-What else did Father do?" Tubarina was scared to learn the truth about him.

Thorn commented, "Your father lauds himself as the most powerful man in Salacia. He rules with an iron fist in a velvet glove, but inside him lies a man with a desire to control and conquer. He is nothing but a tyrant under the blanket of benevolence. All the time he was king, he was never any better than myself when I wore that crown."

Miss Marla saw the shocked expression on Tubarina's face. "Tubarina, I know what you're feeling right now, but everyone needs to hear the truth about your father. Think of the people who haven't heard the truth about him. Think of the people who know the truth, but they can't say it out loud for some reason."

Duante began, "We have reason to believe that the Shark King is constructing weapons of mass destruction. Those weapons can turn a person into a masked warrior and give them the power to defeat hundreds of people in minutes. He also intends on using the power of the world behind the mirror to get around. Just think about it. If the Shark King harnesses that power and gives it to each and every army, they could win the war in an instant."

Miss Marla continued, "The Shark King has also made clones of the princes and princesses, and he's been doing it for years. There have been clones showing up at school when you were there, but we never noticed because they were fitted with perception filters."

"It's not just that," continued Seretao. "One of the Shark King's weapons has the power to turn back time. He's used it many, many times when the war doesn't go his way. Who knows how many lives were sacrificed only for their deaths to mean nothing? Who knows how many times the kings and queens have been killed? Who knows how many times… the princes and princesses have been killed?"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I don't want to hear any more!" Tubarina was distraught. She knew about the Salacian Warrior Project. She remembered seeing the clones at school. What she never expected to hear was how her father treated the lives of every Salacian warrior, civilian or royal, so callously by letting them die in battle and then making it so that they never died. Ester went to comfort her, while also wondering if her own father could secretly be like Tubarina's father as well.

"If the Shark King already made clones of us," questioned Polvina, "then why does he care so much about not letting us die?"

Miss Marla answered, "A new generation of clones aren't going to be as good as the last. I assume the Shark King still wants you alive so he can create more perfect clones of you."

"So what are you planning to do now?" asked Polvina.

Duante answered, "We need to retrieve the Staff of Oblivion from the Abysmal Kingdom. Miss Marla told me you already know what it is. We're going to use it to reawaken everyone's lost memories. Sure, it'll rile up the Drylanders as well, but it'll hopefully get more of our people and animals to rebel against the Shark King."

With this, Polvina was willing to join them. "I want to help, if this means that the war can be over sooner."

"But Polvina, can't you see the state that Tubarina's in right now?" Ester asked. "Can't this wait until later?"

"Can't I care about more than one thing at once?" Polvina replied. "You know what? No, it can't wait. I'm sick of you two thinking you're more important than everyone else. You constantly argue and talk about people behind their backs. You act like the whole sea revolves around you and you care more about yourselves than the bigger picture. If you two want to go home, then just go. I'm going with Miss Marla and the others. Some Divine Princesses you are."

Ester was shocked. "Polvina, what the hell are you talking about?" she exclaimed. "You're one of the Divine Princesses too!" Polvina was already leaving the prison with Miss Marla, Duante and Seretao. "Whatever. Let's get you home, Tubarina." Ester and Tubarina left the prison as well.