Just then, Scylla heard another voice. “Castle?”
Lumina floated in through the open doorway. Scylla winced. Things were about to get complicated.
“What about the castle?” Lumina asked excitedly.
Murray flashed a curious grin. “Well, well, and who is this?” he hissed, swimming around Lumina to examine her.
“Hi!” Lumina said cheerfully. “I’m—”
Scylla cut her off. “—late for dinner! Our guest was just leaving.” She pushed Murray toward the door.
“But, Aunt Scylla!” Lumina protested.
“Aunt Scylla?” Murray asked, raising an eyebrow. “I assumed you lived alone.”
“You assumed wrong. Get out,” Scylla ordered, shoving the eel through the door and slamming it in his face. She hoped he hadn’t figured out who Lumina really was.
“Aunt Scylla,” Lumina said excitedly, “what was your friend talking about? Did he mean the royal castle? Are you going there? Can I go? Pleeeease?” Lumina could hardly contain her curiosity. After all, it wasn’t every day that someone visited the sea cave and spoke of the royal palace. She had to know everything!
Aunt Scylla rubbed her temples.
Lumina could tell her aunt didn’t want to talk about it, but she couldn’t help herself. “I heard it has golden doors and pearl chandeliers and a beautiful throne! It must be wonderful, and I’ve always wanted to go there and so does Kuda and—”
“Stop!” Aunt Scylla interrupted. “Absolutely not! I’ve told you how dangerous the journey is! I do it to sell my potions, but it’s far too risky for a young girl alone.”
“But I wouldn’t be alone!” Lumina protested. “I’d have you! And Kuda!”
“And burning fire coral! And vampire squid! And poisonous stonefish!” Aunt Scylla said, shaking her head.
Lumina pouted. Kuda looked terrified.
Aunt Scylla softened. “Lumina, neither of you has ever been an inch outside this reef. Believe me; you wouldn’t last two seconds, even with me to keep an eye on you.”
“But—” Lumina tried.
“It’s out of the question,” Aunt Scylla declared, floating out of the room.
“I think that’s a no,” Kuda joked, trying to put a smile on Lumina’s crestfallen face.
Lumina let out a miserable sigh. Why did everything interesting have to be off-limits? She longed to see the world beyond the reef. She wanted to travel, see sights she had only dreamed of. But Aunt Scylla thought she was safest at home. Where was the adventure in that?
The next morning, Lumina and Kuda watched glumly as Aunt Scylla packed for her trip to the palace. Maybe if I look just sad enough, Aunt Scylla will take me with her, Lumina thought.
But she was wrong. “You be good,” her aunt instructed as she floated toward the door. “I’ll be back in a few days. And please, both of you, stick close to home.”
She kissed them good-bye and took off into the great, wide sea.
Lumina shut the door behind her and sighed. Now what?
“Want to play Tic-Tac-Tuna?” Kuda asked.
Lumina shook her head. She was too disappointed to do much of anything. Lost in thought, she straightened a stack of papers on a nearby table. “Hmm. What’s this?” she asked. She picked up a large, glossy envelope and opened it. “It’s an invitation!” she cried. “Aunt Scylla’s not just going to the castle! She’s invited to the royal ball!” Lumina read the details on the invitation. “And she can’t get in without this!”
Lumina waved the invitation in the air. She raced to the door and flung it open. “Aunt Scylla!” she called. “You forgot your—” She looked both ways but her aunt was already gone. Suddenly, she got an idea. “Kuda,” she began, a twinkle in her eye. “We really should bring this to Aunt Scylla, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t think,” Kuda replied, eyeing her warily.
But Lumina’s face glowed with excitement. “But she’ll need it to get into the ball. So when you think about it, it’s really our duty to go after her—all the way to the castle if we have to!”
Kuda shook her head. “Were you listening to Aunt Scylla? Remember the dangerous journey?”
“You mean the burning whatsit and the poisonous thing-a-ma-poo?” Lumina replied, already making plans in her head.
“It was burning fire coral and poisonous stonefish and you know it,” Kuda declared.
“What about the castle, and the king and queen, and the beautiful mermaids, and all the things we’ve always wanted to see?” Lumina said, practically singing with anticipation.
“But we were just playing!” Kuda protested. “I never thought we’d really do it!”
Lumina knelt in front of Kuda. “Don’t you see?” she asked earnestly. “This is our big chance! Oh, Kuda, we’ve got to go! We’ve just got to!”
“But . . . ,” Kuda started, even though she knew it had already been decided. There was nothing to do but go along to make sure Lumina stayed safe.
A short while later, after they had packed only the essentials into Lumina’s pearl purse, Kuda and Lumina set off through the sea.
“This has to be the right way,” Lumina said, examining her surroundings. They swam through a colorful coral reef, passing schools of tropical fish and fields of anemones along the way. “I’ve seen Aunt Scylla head this way every time she goes to town.”
Suddenly, Lumina stopped. Kuda bumped right into her. Oof! On the wall in front of them, red-orange fire coral rose as far as the eye could see.
“It’s a dead end,” Lumina stated.
“Darn,” Kuda said, pretending to be dis-appointed. “We gave it our best. Let’s go home.”
But Lumina wasn’t ready to give up. She examined the wall more closely, looking for some way around it. She noticed a tiny opening high above. “There!” she exclaimed.
“Where?” Kuda replied, not looking all that closely.
“That opening! I bet that’s her shortcut through the coral,” Lumina reasoned, swimming toward it.
“That? That’s not an opening, that’s a dot!” Kuda objected. “Not even a big dot! You couldn’t push a guppy through there!”
Lumina reached the opening and squeezed her way in. It was just barely her size. “Follow me, Kuda! Don’t be afraid!”
Reluctantly, Kuda followed Lumina’s lead.
The friends entered a massive cavern covered with fragile fire coral. It was dark and dangerous, with giant slabs of coral hanging close to their heads.
“Slow down, Lumina!” Kuda begged. She smacked into a coral stalactite by accident.
“Uh-oh!” It broke off and started a chain reaction. Coral rained down from the ceiling of the cavern.
“Kuda! Swim faster!” Lumina urged as the tunnel started to break apart around them. They made their way through the collapsing coral until—crash! A giant boulder of coral smashed to the ground right in front of them, blocking their path. Lumina and Kuda retreated, but the path back was jammed with coral, too.
Lumina tried not to panic. There had to be another way out. She looked around frantically and spotted a side tunnel. “In there!”
They plowed through the tunnel’s narrow entry. Twisting and turning to dodge falling coral, Lumina coached Kuda. “Don’t be afraid!” she called. “Swim faster! You can do it!”
With a final burst of speed, Kuda and Lumina lunged toward the opening at the other end of the tunnel. They swam through just as the tunnel collapsed behind them.
“That was fun!” Lumina cried, her eyes twinkling with delight.
“That was horrible,” Kuda mumbled.
Soon they arrived at a forest of waving kelp. Lumina noticed a thin path winding through the tall, dimly lit seaweed. “This is it! I know it! See that path? We just need to follow it.” She zoomed down the path, Kuda racing to catch up. They were so busy looking forward that they didn’t notice two gleaming eyes peering at them from behind the kelp.
Meanwhile, at the castle, preparations were under way for the royal b
all. Everyone was excited—except Fergis, the ball’s honorary attendee. He wanted to stay at home with his plants. In fact, he wanted to skip this whole “inheriting the throne” business completely. But he also wanted to make his father proud. He wasn’t sure how to do both.
“But, Father, do I have to go to the ball?” he whined.
“Yes, Fergis,” Caligo replied impatiently. “The ball is being given for you. Once His Majesty places the Pearl of the Sea medallion on you, no power on earth can stop me—I mean, you—from someday being king.”
Fergis pouted. “But I’ve told you—I don’t want to be king. I want to be a botanist.”
“And I’ve told you,” Caligo thundered, glaring at Fergis, “you’ll do what I say! You’ll go to that ball, find a suitable wife, and be named the next ruler of Seagundia!”
Fergis wilted like a flower under his father’s harsh words. “But I love plants, Father, I just love them,” he said in a small voice. “I love all of them: the Syringodium and the Rhizophora and the cheeky little Sargassum.” He smiled as he pictured a beautiful garden containing all of his favorites. He pulled a tiny flower bud from his pocket and sniffed it happily.
Caligo snatched the flower and threw it to the ground. “Forget about plants!” he ordered. “You’re going to be king and that’s the end of it, understood? Now get back to your waltz lessons.”
Fergis sighed heavily. “Yes, sir,” he mumbled, stooping to pick up the crushed bud his father had discarded. “Forgive me, Sargassum,” he whispered to it as he trudged out of the room.
Caligo rubbed his temples in frustration. He was so close to the throne he could taste it. He would not let his son’s flowery dreams stand in the way of the power that rightly belonged to him. Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Murray slip into the room.
The eel cleared his throat, announcing his arrival.
“Ahhhhh! Don’t do that!” Caligo cried, practically jumping out of his skin. He did not like surprises.
The eel chuckled. “I can’t help myself.”
“Well? Did you find Scylla?” Caligo asked impatiently.
“I did, and she agreed to do it,” the eel hissed.
Caligo smiled nastily. “Excellent. Once she’s poisoned the king at the ball, I will finish off Scylla.” He drew his finger across his neck to illustrate his point. “I’ll be hailed as a national hero, and my son will be crowned King of Seagundia.”
“What if the guards grab her first?” Murray asked, poking a hole in Caligo’s master plan.
“They won’t,” Caligo answered confidently. “The Trident Squad is loyal only to me. And I’ve arranged that they will be the ones guarding the ballroom.”
Murray nodded in approval. “My, you have thought of everything.”
“I make it my business to. And once my son is king, I will hold the real power in the kingdom.” He rubbed his hands together greedily. Reaching into his desk, he retrieved a small sack of gold coins. He tossed the payment to Murray for a job well done and looked at a picture of Fergis on his desk. “Now comes the hard part,” he continued. “Finding someone to marry Fergis.”
Murray slithered toward the door. “Perhaps you should talk to Scylla,” he said slyly. “You know, she has quite a lovely niece.”
Caligo yanked Murray back into the room by his tail. “Niece?” he asked.
“Goodness me,” Murray said, acting innocent. “Did I fail to mention that? Blond, about seventeen years old. Interesting coincidence, don’t you think?”
Caligo dropped Murray and stroked his chin in thought. “Hmmm.” Seventeen years ago he’d hired Scylla to make that blond baby princess disappear. Could this be the same mergirl? He eyed Murray dangerously. “Bring me that niece. I want to ask her a few questions.”
Lumina weaved her way through the narrow pathway of kelp, Kuda behind her. A pair of yellow eyes watched them, unnoticed.
“This forest goes on forever,” Kuda commented. “And it’s getting kind of dark. Can’t we go back now? My fins are tired.”
Lumina peered through the sea grass in front of her and saw lights in the distance. “Lights!” she cried. “Could that be the city already?” She picked up her pace and strayed from the path to check it out.
Kuda gulped. Leaving the path did not seem like a smart idea.
Lumina raced toward a clearing. She screeched to a halt when she saw giant squid floating in front of her. Their red eyes glowed in the deep dark water and their cloak-like tentacles reached toward Lumina.
“This can’t be as bad as it looks,” Lumina said, not wanting to scare Kuda.
But Kuda, hiding behind her, was already terrified. “It’s worse! Those are vampire squid!”
Lumina gulped. “Well, I’m sure if we don’t bother them, they won’t bother us.”
The vampire squid moved closer.
“Tell that to them!” Kuda cried.
Slowly, Lumina and Kuda tried to back away. But the vampire squid had them trapped on three sides! The squid opened their gaping mouths, and Lumina saw what looked like sharp teeth inside.
Kuda grabbed a nearby stick with her tail. “Well, I’m not going down without a fight!” she cried, waving the stick in front of her.
Suddenly, the squid stopped in their tracks.
“Wow, nice going, Kuda!” Lumina cheered.
Kuda looked proud. “I guess they knew better than to mess with us!” She shuffled back and forth like a boxer. “Float like a butterflyfish, sting like a jelly wasp!” she cried.
Then Lumina realized that the squid were staring at something behind them. Uh-oh. She whirled around and screamed, “Whooooaaa!”
A giant vampire squid the size of a boat drifted toward them. Its huge underside glowed a ghastly blue.
Thinking quickly, Lumina reached into her pouch. She threw fistful after fistful of pearls toward the giant squid.
“I don’t think it’s pearls he wants to eat!” Kuda exclaimed.
Lumina ignored her friend and commanded the pearls to form the outline of an enormous eye against the boulder behind them. It made the boulder look like a sea monster twice the size of the vampire squid. Lumina conducted the “eye” to glare dangerously. The giant squid swam away in terror! Score!
Kuda grinned. “Not bad!” Then she frowned. “Uh-oh.”
Lumina groaned. “Stop saying that!’ ”
Kuda’s eyes widened with fear. “Move. Away. From the rock,” she ordered.
“Why?” Lumina asked, still feeling great about defeating the vampire squid.
The boulder behind her sprang to life. It wasn’t a rock at all but a giant stonefish! And it was angry. ROOOOAAARRRR! Its cry thundered through the sea.
“That’s why!” Kuda cried, shaking. “A stonefish! One of the most poisonous—”
“The most poisonous!” the stonefish bellowed, his voice shaking the water around them.
Kuda cleared her throat quietly. “Make that the most poisonous fish in the sea,” she said in a tiny voice.
“That’s right, mergirl! You are looking at the face of certain doom!” the fish shouted.
Lumina took a deep breath. She held out her hand to greet the menacing fish. “Uh, nice to meet you, Mr. Doom,” she tried.
“So you better move it! ROOAAARRR!” the stonefish shouted.
“I vote with him,” Kuda said, spinning to leave. “Let’s do what he says.”
Lumina grabbed Kuda by the tail. “Hang on.”
“I said, ROOAARR!” the stonefish tried once more.
Lumina cocked her head thoughtfully. Something about this stonefish caught her attention. He seemed almost sad. “That is one powerful voice you have there,” she remarked.
The stonefish charged toward Lumina. She felt his hot breath on her face as he glared at her.
“Aren’t you listening?” he yelled. Then he pointed to the thirteen sharp spikes along the ridge of his back. “You see these spikes? They’re poisonous! One prick and game over. Kaput! You’re finished.”
>
But Lumina wasn’t fazed. She knew her pearl powers could render his spikes useless. Besides, she wanted the chance to talk to him more—to find out what made him so angry. So she waved her hand and thirteen large pearls zipped out of her pouch. They darted through the water and landed, one atop each of the stonefish’s sharp spikes. “There,” Lumina said.
The stonefish eyed his back. “What?” he bellowed. “What have you done to me?”
Kuda ducked behind Lumina for safety. “Y-y-yeah,” she stammered. “What have you done to him?”
“I just de-spiked your spikes,” Lumina replied matter-of-factly. “Now no one needs to be scared of you.”
The stonefish looked worried. “What? Nooo! You can’t do this! I’m the scariest thing in the ocean!” He thrashed around and let out a deafening roar to prove his point.
Kuda peeked from behind Lumina. Something about a huge fish covered in pearls didn’t seem so scary after all. “Not so much the scariest. Just the loudest,” the sea horse ventured.
The stonefish looked miserable—as if he wasn’t sure how to act without his weapons. “Great. Just great. What am I supposed to do now?” he asked, deflated.
Lumina swam closer. “Just be nicer,” she suggested. “Stop trying to frighten everyone. Get to know your fellow fish.”
“Easy for you to say.” The stonefish pouted, sinking into the sand. “Everyone runs from me.”
Lumina sat beside him and patted his fin gently. She hated to see anyone—even a big scary stonefish—feel lonely and left out. Having spent so much time by herself at the sea cave, she knew what it felt like. “Well, I think you should give the pearls a chance. Once no one’s afraid of you, I bet you’ll have loads of friends,” she said sweetly.
The stonefish considered Lumina’s words. “You think? I don’t know. It seems wrong for a stonefish. And I’m not so good at friendliness.”
Barbie: The Pearl Princess Junior Novelization Page 2