by E. G. Foley
Thanks to the abundant afternoon sunshine, the cabin was filled with wondrous blue-green light that shimmered over their skin in dancing shadows and waves.
Little thready streams of silver bubbles flew past their windows as they powered on. The weightless sense of floating was like nothing Jake had ever felt before. It was a bit like flying, but not at all like riding through the skies on Red. This felt much gentler and yet less controlled. Hovering, drifting, gliding, tilting side to side as the sea rocked the vehicle, lolling gently up and down on their way as Archie adjusted the pitch. Though their general direction was down, it was not a straight line, but more like a dolphin’s progress: nose up and then nose down, working with the water in a slow, soaring motion.
Maybe the Turtle was the right name after all, Jake thought, staring, wide-eyed, out the porthole.
Leaving the sandy, pebble-strewn shallows well behind, they entered deeper waters and saw colorful coral heads waiting in the turquoise sea ahead and below them.
No one said a word. It was absolutely magical.
Schools of fish rushed by the sub in a rainbow of colors. Long, thin silver ones with blue and yellow stripes down their sides. Bright peach-colored ones. Jake saw a red starfish stuck to the side of a coral mound amid delicate plants waving gently in the current.
The water was so clear.
There were prickly things and blobby things. Flat fish and long, pointy fish. Wispy plants, tufts of tall grasses, strange undersea shrubs with weird berries on them, and they all swayed in the current like they were dancing.
Jake looked up and saw the sea’s silver surface rolling on endlessly above them; he grew mesmerized watching the waves form from the underside, rising to ripple and crest, hurrying ever onward toward the beach.
Even the white sand of the seabed had creased itself neatly into wave form. There, Jake saw what he thought was an ordinary brown rock until it opened big yellow eyes, unwound its legs, and went scuttling away: a small octopus with eight thick, wriggly legs lined with purple suction cups.
The shy creature fled at their approach, tucking itself away into a cranny of the coral reef. Its slithery winding gait reminded him a little of Fionnula Coralbroom, the sea-witch who had once turned herself into a kraken in the middle of a London ballroom and tried to kill him and his Gryphon.
Jake snorted at the memory. Well, she was in jail now at the bottom of the cold North Sea, where she belonged, in the custody of King Oceanus of the merfolk.
Then he pushed her out of his thoughts, for her parting words still tormented him when he let himself think about them too much…
The sea-witch had taunted him with the hint of a possibility that his parents might still be alive. But Jake knew in his heart she had only said it to be cruel. He did not dare believe otherwise.
As a wee boy in the orphanage, he had learned in his few brushes with a possible adoption by a nice family that nothing was more painful than to hope for something so vitally important, only to be disappointed.
No. They were dead, and that was that.
“To the pedals, everyone,” Archie ordered, breaking into Jake’s thoughts. “Let’s put on some speed. Everybody stay in unison, so we keep both sides moving forward evenly. Keep the beat like this. One-two, one-two…”
Dani mumbled it, which made it easier for everyone to stay in sync. The Turtle glided ahead more quickly into the blue, and Jake let out a sudden gleeful whoop. “Is this amazing or what? Well done, coz!”
Archie glanced over his shoulder at him and laughed. “Grazie!”
“Keep your eyes on the road, brother,” Isabelle chided fondly.
As they all continued rhythmically working the foot pedals, Maddox suddenly pointed at his window. “I just saw a stingray! It was buried in the sand. You couldn’t even see it until it popped up and just whooshed away, like a gray kite flying…”
“How’s she doing, skipper?” Nixie called from the back of the cabin.
“Steady as she goes. How’s our fuel?”
“On target.”
“Good. Then what say we go and have a look round inside this temple?” Archie suggested.
Jake was so astounded by the sea itself he had nearly forgotten about the drowned temple until it came into view ahead, cloaked in sapphire shadows.
“Would you look at that,” Maddox said, marveling along with him at the mossy marble columns that lined the ancient temple’s front portico.
As they neared, Jake noted that the wide but shallow front steps of the temple had been half covered by many layers of white sand. Schools of fish wove in and out among the row of front pillars but fled at their noisy approach.
“Astounding,” Archie murmured. “That doorway looks wide enough that the Turtle can fit in there…”
Indeed, the ancient Romans had built the marble entrance so big it could probably have accommodated a visit in person from Athena or Jupiter or Ares, or whatever pagan god to whom it had been dedicated.
“Do you think it’s wide enough that we can fit between those pillars?” Maddox murmured.
“It’ll take some tricky maneuvering,” Archie said. “But if my crew stays alert on the pedals as I direct you, I don’t see why not. It’ll be dark in there. Nix, dear, can you be ready please to give us extra light?”
“Child’s play,” she drawled with a smile.
“Atta girl,” he said, sending a quick, smitten glance over his shoulder at his little soul mate.
Maddox shifted uneasily in his chair. “I don’t know. This seems a little dangerous.”
“You think?” Isabelle muttered.
Anger flashed across his face as he glanced over at her. “Pardon, Miss Bradford,” he said with taut politeness, “but you’re not the one tasked with keeping everyone alive.”
“Now, now, no worries,” Archie soothed. “We can do this. I think.”
“Don’t you want to see an ancient temple, Maddox?” Dani asked brightly.
He gave her a look that admitted he was as eager as they all were to go exploring.
“Righty-ho, then,” said Archie, staring ahead with great concentration. “Let’s do this. Be ready to pedal together as I tell you starboard or port—that means right or left. I don’t want to bump into those columns on the way in. They might not be stable after all this time. Plus, it’d be a shame to dent my poor Turtle on her first time out. So wait for my command. But first…we need to go just a little bit deeper.”
To get a better view, Jake leaned a little into the aisle, staring breathlessly out the captain’s front viewport.
For the first time in weeks, he didn’t give a single thought to the Dark Druids, well and truly distracted by the adventure.
It was quite a thrill.
Dani glanced at him in bubbling excitement. “We’re probably the first people in a thousand years to go inside this place.”
“Maybe two thousand,” Nixie murmured.
The cabin grew darker as they descended, but thankfully, the candles still glowed.
“Portside! Left pedals—now!”
Jake, with Isabelle sitting in front of him, hastily worked the foot pedals. “One-two, one-two…”
“Enough!” Archie ordered.
They stopped, and the Turtle drifted gently toward the center, getting lined up with the building’s ancient doorway.
“Here we go,” Archie said in a low tone.
Jake held his breath.
The submersible powered slowly straight ahead, venturing into the black mouth of the mysterious sunken temple.
Eyebrows knitted with concentration, Archie drove the Sea Turtle in between the pillars of the portico and through the wide marble opening of the front door.
“Fallen statue!” Isabelle warned.
“I see it…by Jove. Heh. Get it?” The statue seemed to be one of Jove, so Archie laughed absently as he angled the sub upward. They chugged over the toppled statue of the bearded god unscathed.
“Can you give us more light, Nix?” Mad
dox asked.
“Aye, we can’t see anything back here,” Jake complained. All the side windows were dark now.
She took out her wand and conjured five ethereal balls of soft, glowing, magical light that passed through the walls of the sub and zoomed out into the water, spreading out and rising, giving them a better view of their surroundings.
“Aha,” said Archie. “Hold on…” He flicked a few levers, adjusted the angle of the flaps, and then cut the steam power to the propellers.
The Turtle bumped gently to a halt against some unseen surface. Archie turned to look back at his passengers. “Guess what? There’s an air bubble trapped in here.”
“Really?” Dani murmured in surprise.
He nodded. “We’re at the surface. Anyone fancy a quick look round out there—just for a minute, though—so we don’t run out of air?”
They cheered.
“Let me check first and see if it’s safe,” Maddox said. “Are you sure I can open the hatch now?”
“Go ahead.” Archie pointed out the front window, where Nixie’s illumination balls revealed that, indeed, the front altar of the temple was dry.
They had just traveled through the main section of the building, where the worshippers would have gathered; that part lay submerged under several yards of water. But the elevated front section where the pagan priests or priestesses would’ve stood looking out over the congregation was dry all the way up to the temple’s lofty ceiling.
At the base of this ceremonial platform, gentle surf washed against the edge of the marble floor, slowly eroding it to a round, smooth edge.
That was where they had landed.
“Please be careful,” Isabelle said in a taut voice to Maddox as he climbed the few ladder rungs to open up the hatch.
“I’m always careful, Miss Bradford. It’s the curse of my existence,” he muttered, twisting the round handle in the opposite direction from before. Then he lifted the heavy sealed port outward with a creak.
Stepping up another two rungs of the ladder, he poked his head out of the top of the submarine and looked around without a word.
“Well?” Jake demanded impatiently.
Maddox ducked his head back in and flashed a rare smile. “All clear.”
“Let’s go!” Jake jumped out of his chair while Maddox climbed onto the stone surface.
He followed him out, clapping their fearless captain on the shoulder as he passed the cockpit. “Congratulations, Arch. She runs like a dream.”
Archie grinned. “Can’t wait for the next Invention Convention so I can show her off.”
“Me too! But no giants.” With that, Jake swung up the ladder and vaulted out onto the ancient marble floor. He looked around breathlessly at the place. It was full of wonders.
Then he went off by himself to explore while Maddox stood stationed at their landing spot to offer a hand as the others began climbing out into the sunken temple, one by one.
CHAPTER 5
Devil of the Deep Blue Sea
At about that same time, high up in the schoolroom chamber in a pink tower atop the Coral Palace, Sapphira closed her eyes and concentrated on her song.
Like their cousins the sirens, all mermaids wielded power in their voices, but it was a difficult piece, rising and falling like the waves, and it required hours of practice.
Of course, it was a great honor to have been chosen to perform the ancient ceremonial chant this year, opening the annual Assembly of the Sea Kings. But the Hymn to the Moon had to be performed with reverence and precision. Neither of which were really her forte.
Professor Pomodori listened intently, making sure she was pronouncing every line with the correct inflection.
She hoped she’d get it right by September.
Representatives from all the kingdoms and royal families of the merfolk would be present at the annual congress, and this was the first time Sapphira would be old enough to join the adults there. Pro-Pom had warned her they’d all be watching her closely, as the future queen of Poseidonia. For now, she was mainly expected to behave herself and watch and listen and learn.
Until the big event, to be held at summer’s end off the coast of Easter Island, her tutor had a whole list of subjects she had to brush up on: protocol, languages, the latest political situations, and a review of major current events in all the great nations throughout the Seven Seas.
Her father’s realm was just one small kingdom out of many, after all. But she was determined to make her homeland look good by her performance, and if at all possible—though it probably wasn’t—to make her father proud.
For once, Sapphira didn’t mind. Ever since that strange day by Calypso Deep, her rebellious attitude had changed. She had been thinking a lot lately about Atlantis and how it pertained to her own responsibilities as the future queen of her country.
If a whole empire could sink itself through its own mismanagement, then maybe she had better get serious and start putting a little more effort into her studies.
Professor Pomodori had been pleasantly surprised that she had not ditched her lessons in nearly a month. She trained harder than ever with Tyndaris, and went daily to attend her father in the throne room.
Watching King Nereus, she took notes on how her father handled his courtiers and all their scheming factions; how he decided on decrees, or determined how to allot the kingdom’s resources, and finessed the many matters of state clamoring for his attention.
Her new focus on her duty pleased the adults around her, but her little sister was puzzled by it and even a bit suspicious.
No matter. The reasons for Sapphira’s change of attitude remained her own. After all, she wasn’t allowed to talk about what had happened.
But the truth was, the whole incident with the orb had sobered her about her future responsibilities. As crown princess, one day she’d be responsible for her entire country. She had always known this, of course, but somehow it had never fully sunk in till now.
And that was why she had decided to keep the orb.
As pleased as her tutor was about her new dedication to her studies, she doubted Pro-Pom would’ve been very happy if he knew she had never followed his instructions and thrown it back into the Calypso Deep.
Why should she? Once the old merman’s hysteria over the thing had faded, such a move seemed irresponsible, in the cold light of reason.
If the orb was really as powerful as her tutor claimed—and her abilities as leader were as questionable as Father had long predicted—then maybe she might need it someday.
A little extra ace up her sleeve to give her an edge in dealing with the kingdom’s rivals and enemies when she was queen. The Atlanteans were known to have possessed very advanced learning and science. Who knew what else the orb might be able to do to make her people’s lives better?
Oh, it was still safe, of course, hidden away in her secret place. She went to the sunken temple to see it every now and then, making sure it was still undisturbed.
It didn’t take long to realize that, clearly, Pro-Pom had exaggerated the threat. Plus, no one knew she had it. She’d never told a soul, not even Tyndaris. And, true to his word, her tutor had never mentioned it again, simply assuming she had done as he’d ordered.
Frankly, Sapphira was pleased with her decision. A smart leader used whatever advantages fell into her lap. Especially secret ones. She had learned enough about ruling to know that much, at least.
“Boo!” Once again, Lil popped out from behind a chair when Sapphira was halfway through the Hymn to the Moon.
The younger princess had been clowning around the whole time, trying to make Sapphira laugh so she’d mess up her song.
Sapphira refused to look at her, annoyed, but told herself this was actually good practice. When the time came for her to stand up before an amphitheater full of very important merfolk, including her father and all his fellow sea kings, she was sure to be a ball of nerves.
Lil’s antics were forcing her to learn the song all the
better, so she could not be distracted when the big day arrived.
As she drew out the old melody’s final, haunting note, Pro-Pom started clapping. “Well done, Your Highness!”
Sapphira grinned. “Really?”
“I thought you sounded like a humpback whale,” Lil declared.
“I’d like to see you try it, Barnacle,” she retorted, tugging on one of her sister’s golden braids.
“I think that’s enough for toda—” their tutor started, when all of a sudden, a reverberating blast thundered through the city, rocked the royal palace, and shook the room where they were working.
Instantly, muffled yells, shouts, and distant screams reached them from outside.
“What was that?” Lil cried.
Sapphira had reached out instinctively to protect her little sister, steadying her with one hand while holding onto the table with the other. She glanced at Pro-Pom in alarm. “Earthquake?”
“I-I don’t know.” He righted his spectacles, which had been jolted sideways by the blast.
The room was still rumbling when a pod of dolphins came racing up to the small round window in the coral wall. They were too big to swim through it, so Sapphira rushed over to ask what was happening.
The four dolphins squeaked and clicked rapidly at her in alarm, but they were so agitated it was hard to make out what they were saying. They had been on a beach, playing with some human girl, they said—but then their wild chirpings became incoherent. They swam off toward the palace gates as another blast boomed across the city.
“What the devil’s going on?” her tutor exclaimed.
Heart pounding, Sapphira looked out the window only to find Lil’s little seahorse pony, Wallace, gliding up to the opening. He poked his head in to see if his owner was all right.
“Wallace!” Lil raced over beside Sapphira and reached through the window to pat his nose. “Good boy, what’s happening out there? If it’s an earthquake, you’d better stay safe.”
But Sapphira drew in her breath as she spotted the source of the explosions. “Look!”
She pointed.
A black, eerie ship with tattered sails was drifting over the city—not on the surface like normal vessels—but hovering midway down the water column, moving as it willed.