“Of course,” says Cyrus briskly. “You didn’t think the royal family of Atlantis only had a one-floor palace?”
“I guess not,” I mumble, but raise my voice slightly defiantly afterwards. “They could have at least put signs up!”
“That is true,” says Lila earnestly. “Finding the bathroom is no easy task. I wonder if anyone’s ever had an… accident?”
I groan. “Ew, Lila! Seriously?”
Cyrus looks particularly happy as we shoot up to the second floor.
Luckily, Oak’s room is right there in front of us when the elevator voice announces in a monotone that the doors are opening on the second floor. I knock, but the doorknob to his room is unlocked. “Weird,” I say.
Tentatively, Lila (tries) to open the door, but Cyrus grabs the doorknob and violently pulls it, bursting in on a scene that a nagging voice in my head had predicted a few moments ago. The voice is now annoyingly repeating “I to-old you so!” in a sing-songy tone.
Oak isn’t in his room. No one is. The furniture is all scuffed and one chair is upside-down. The table is broken and blocking the lopsided bed.
My brain races into detective mode, something I pride myself on. I notice things where others don’t.
Lila and Cyrus are still staring, open-mouthed, at the mess. “Who did this?” Lila gapes inconsequentially.
“Probably someone who wanted to stop us, or anyone, really, from finding out the truth,” I answer, matter-of-factly, even though Lila’s words were probably more of an exclamation than an actual question.
“The truth about what?”
I shrug. “Guess they did a good job hiding it, then.”
Still, my mind is on more pressing matters than the mysterious culprit. What’s really important right now is finding Oak. Or maybe someone who can point us to him? I’m certainly more concerned for his safety than I was a month ago, but then I didn’t know he was innocent.“Who was close to Oak?” I ask.
“Probably another servant,” Cyrus casually drops, but I skid out and practically jump onto a door marked:
Odin and Amber. Butler to Queen Celestina and maid to Princess Cupcake! Put CUPCAKE! and her daughter Sage (ugh)
“ANYONE THERE!?” I yell. An irritated-looking mermaid with bright red hair opens the door. “Sage, shut up and go away. It’s almost 9 pm(I frantically check my watch)—Oh! Chloe, you’re that human girl we met in the cellar. What is it?”
“About Oak,” I say, gulping. “He’s gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?” asks Amber worriedly. Resuming in a businesslike tone, she adds, “There must be a misunderstanding.”
“Well, his room is all scuffed up. Kinda looks like… signs of a struggle?”
Amber exchanges an impressed glance with her brother, Odin. “I didn’t know humans could be smart. Considering none of them know about us.”
“Hey!” I interject, offended. Then I realize she was complimenting me. “Anyway, wanna come see?”
“Fine. But just for five minutes. I’m inviting Silver and Sterling over to watch a movie.”
Once Odin, Amber, and us arrive at Oak’s room for the second time, I notice just how bad this is, not only for Oak, but for us, too. Whoever did this to Oak probably took him. Grimly, I realize that there’s only one person who would do that. King Scorpio.
Amber grimaces and bites her lip, clearly frustrated. “Right. I don’t really know what to do, so just stay out of my way.”
“Oh, you don’t need to know what to do!” I say brightly, even though I don’t either. “You don’t have to worry. I can try to help,” I offer.
Amber throws me a look that says quite plainly that she very much enjoys being the person who says things like that.
“Getting some Sage energy from her,” Cyrus mutters discreetly to me. Amber wheels around quicker than a blink to glare at Cyrus so profoundly that I’m worried her eyes might pop out of her head. “Excuse me!? I’m nothing like that brat. I hate her.”
Lila adds, “You’re not the only one,” and Amber’s expression softens a little. “I guess I was kind of rude. Sorry. But anyway, it’s Odin’s fault since he bugs me so much I’m constantly like that.”
Even if Amber can’t apologize, she seems like a truly nice person, unlike Sage. But wait… “Aha!” I yell. “A letter!”
“A what now?” Odin asks.
“A letter. Maybe from Oak?” I suggest.
“If you’re looking for Oak, he’s gone. Don’t try to find him. If you do, you will suffer the consequences that come from too high an amount of curiosity. Have a nice day!
-your King,” Cyrus reads aloud.
Amber swims out of the room at what’s probably top speed. “I know! I know! The locater! Oak knew!”