Albert alderman: the missing trident.

Part two.

ONE

Allegra glows in her tears.

Wait, wait a minute. Please, I don’t want to be a dumpster diver again. I wanted to tell her right before she could do her
disappearing trick. But, too late! We were already accelerating in a blank void of nothingness.

At least, it lasted for a little while than the last teleportation in the palace. Thank God! There was no trash can or even
dumpsters at the exit of the white vacuum.

Out of a cloud we fell and then landed on a field of pondweeds. Judging from the bright light a far, I could tell that we
were no longer in Atlantis... Actually we were far away from the city of Poseidon.

“ So where are we going?” I asked Allegra while removing some pondweeds in my shirt.

“ To the sea pirates,” She admitted.

“ Yes, we are going to the surface.” I said excitedly.

“ Argh!” She looked at me, like I was dumb. She patted her forehead with her right palm and sighed heavily.

“ No. No, Albert. They are sea pirates. They used to steal ships and pirate booty— the Golden tokens, gems and silver
until they arrived at the island of Atlantis before it sank a few days later.” She explained.

“ So they breathe underwater?” I asked.

“ Yes genius. They sank with this island. And by the power of Poseidon’s Trident, they were given the power to breathe
underwater.” Allegra yanked me so that I could move a little faster and stop digesting the information I had heard because,
honestly, it was a lot to take in.

“ Come on, Albert. We have no time.” She said, “ snap out of the trance!”

She looked anxious and excited than ever. It must have been something to do with the ‘ family reunion’thing Wallen
spoke of. Because all she could mutter and mumble about was “ what should I surprise my mum with?” Or “what should I
give her when we catch up?” etcetera. She was only thinking about her mother. And not the missing trident.
 Her face expression could only display impatience.

“ Um... hello?”I yelled at her.

“What of the trident?” I reminded her.

Silent. No answer.

“You miss her, don’t you?”I said wistfully.

My words must have touched her sorrowful heart because she looked like she had been struck by the lightning of
distress. She sank to the sea floor and burst into tears while her tail shone with a bright blue colour. More pondweeds and
sponges grew and flourished where her bright blue tears flowed.

I stared down at her in amusement. So this is what happens when a mermaid cries. I thought.

Awesome. The voice in my mind yelled.

But, suddenly tears also began cascaded out of my eyes without control. I started weeping without stopping.

I don’t know what had come into me but I couldn’t end it. It was like I felt the urge to continue wailing.

Was My mind sad? No it wasn’t.

Was my heart broken emotionally?

Still no.

It was like I was no longer in control. I also sank down to the sea bottom with a strong urge to, while crying
uncontrollably. I felt a strong desire to comfort her. So I reached out for her shoulders and hugged her tight in the blinding
light. Her tail coiled around me like a glowing snake.

“It was all my fault.” She cried.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” I said, “It was all a mistake.”

“But... but...” Tears continued flowing out of her eyes.

“ There... there... everything is going to be fine.”I promised her as my right palm tapped her back gently.

The glowing light grew brighter as the pondweeds became taller. And soon enough, we were in a pondweed forest.
The light finally dimmed after two minutes of sadness.

She let go of me.

“Thank you Albert.”She almost whispered.

“That was kind of you.” She continued.

But honestly, that was not me. I didn’t know who or even what was that. I just took it like an instinct. And in all ways, I
think I liked it. That hug made me feel better, braver and even calmer.

Allegra pursed her lips. “Sorry about that. It must have wasted our time.”

“Wasted? No way.”

“ I think that felt pretty good.”I continued.

“ You sure?”she replied.

“ Yeah, very.”

She wiped her tears. “Anyway, let’s get going.”

We rose from the sea bottom and continued our journey.

TWO

Sadness out. Here comes Fear!

Another moment of silence came as we swam across fields of coral and shoals of fish and other sea creatures: octopuses,
lobsters, starfish... etcetera. It was all beautiful—each creature with its distinct colours.

Whoosh! Something zoomed past our backs. On looking behind, it was a shadow of a large fish with a mickle dorsal fin.

“Run!” She screamed.

Too late.

It charged towards Allegra and knocked her out right before she could think of how to escape.

She lay on my arms, unconscious.

“Allegra! Allegra!” I cried. But she never awoke.

“She’s not dead, human,”one of the sharks with scars on its lips and bloody teeth said. “But she will be, in my belly.”

I was stunned to hear it, talk. I stared at it and never flinched. It read my face expression.

“You can understand me?” It asked.

I simply nodded.

“How can this —?”It approached me.

“Hey Fear. Are you going to chat with our food?” A thunderous voice came from the pondweed bush.