Peter firmly pressed his lips together, until the fragile skin along his face began to turn a pearly shade of white. “We couldn’t survive here, anyways,” he murmured.
“Why not?” She stopped herself and laughed. “Well, besides the obvious.” Maggie kicked her legs out from behind her, earning a few pointed looks from nearby mermaids.
Selina whipped around before Peter could respond, her striking pink clothes somehow looking even brighter from within the city positioned on the sea floor. With her hands firmly placed on her bony hips, Selina kept her voice to a low chatter,pulling them into a dark and murky alley between a pair of busy restaurants.
“You are showing one reason why you two wouldnevermake it in Atlantis,” Selina said.
Maggie raised a brow. “What did we do?”
“Asking questions, for one,” she snapped. “You can gawk over the city and mention how beautiful you think it is, Maggie Hart, but don’t for a second let your guard fall.”
“I know, I know,” Maggie disheartenedly murmured with a dismissive wave. “Like the poisonous frog you mentioned.”
Selina grabbed her wrist quickly. “Neither you nor the King of Neverland could even begin to try and survive in Atlantis. Did you forget how far beneath the surface we are? Only the anatomy of a mermaid keeps us from combusting from the pressure.”
Maggie’s eyes went wide. “Combusting?”
“My point exactly,” the mermaid said with a prideful smirk. “There’s nothing to worry aboutnow,of course. My magical bubbles protect you from it. But it’s not like you canlivein the bubbles.” She pointed over her shoulder toward the alley’s exit, where streaks of color passed as the mermaids moved through Atlantis. “Unfortunately for you two lovebirds, there won’t be a romantic vacation in Atlantis anytime soon.”
Coralyn reached for Maggie’s hand next, pulling her free from her sister’s tight grip and back out into the racing city. She hooked her arm around her and the mermaid’s midnight blue tail snapped and flexed out behind them. Immediately Maggie felt as though the mermaid’s natural physical power spread between them, igniting her with a supernaturally powered adrenaline.
“But that doesn’t mean you can’t get a star-studded tour,” Coralyn exclaimed.
The mermaid excitedly exclaimed it all. It was impossible for light to break through the ocean’s surface and reach the darkestdepths, where Atlantis stood, but there was no need to worry about it. The city was in no need for the surface’s sun. Barnacles that housed an unexplainable power naturally grew along the ancient buildings of Atlantis. The sea-life lit up whenever it needed to, casting down rays of neon colored lights across the city. The way forward was always illuminated, no matter the time of day. The ancient stone towers looked to be from an entirely different time, perhaps even a different world, but the barnacles were what bound it to Neverland, tonow.
Coralyn led them through the industrial district, where the roads were full of serious looking mermaids heading off to their serious looking business. Some carried cases made from rotting wood, some were forged from sunken pirate ships. All of them were on a mission, diving in and out of the buildings with rapid speed.
“These mermaids keep the city running,” Coralyn explained as they swam through the hectic district. “Our Father likes to run on the belief that every body of water lies under his jurisdiction. Do youknowjust how much water that is?”
Maggie opened her mouth but quickly let it fall shut. She shook her head.
“An indescribable amount,” she finished with a short nod of her chin. “These mermaids are the smartest of the colony, and they spend every waking hour keeping control over however many seas my Father would like to have under his belt that day.”
As they continued on, a striking castle beginning to appear in the distant city, Maggie began to realize the complications of getting the statue back. The more and more she learned about the mermaids and their home, the easier it was to understand why Hook and his crew were in no hurry to get their good luck charm back. There was nothing outrightly hostile about the mermaids and their city, but the natural power lying with and around them was enough to make Maggie second guess theirplans. Mermaids might’ve been simple before when all Maggie wanted to do was try to get rid of their dam. Now, as she swam further into their territory, something told her that she didn’t quite know what she was talking about after all.
Sharp towers that punctured the expanding sea above stood at the very edge of Atlantis. Surrounding the towers were a series of shorter buildings, the structures no longer being made from something as simple as stone. It glinted from a distance, the barnacle’s light clashing against the jewel studded surface to make it almost an impossible feat to look at straight on. They were still a mile or two away, but they’d arrive at the front of the Palace in no time. Maggie reached for Peter’s hand once more, holding him close to her side.
“How sure are you two that your fatherhasthe statue we’re looking for?” Maggie asked.
Coralyn’s laugh was like the sound of shells clacking together beneath the waves. “If what Peter said was true,” she replied, “and Captain Hook lost his statue over our seas, I have no doubt that your prize has landed in our Father’s clutches.”
“But how can you be so sure if you haven’t seen the statue yourself?”
Selina drifted closer to her, resting one hand against Maggie’s magical bubble covered shoulder. “Let me guess? This is your first interaction with the King of the Seas.”
“You’ve got that right,” Maggie mumbled, only partly embarrassed, though she was sure that the feeling would surely grow.
“Anything that wades into our waters belongs to King Neptune,” Selina explained. “You and I and the entire world might not see it that way, but it’s how it is down here. We haven’t laid eyes on the prize you seek, but if there’s one place that it’s being kept, it's the Treasure Room.”
Coralyn waded even closer, her voice quieter than her sister’s. “King Neptune’s Treasure Room is the most sought after prize by every thief across Neverland. Many have come to see what lies inside, and all have failed. This area is strictly forbidden, even to Selina and I.”
“B-But you are his daughters,” Maggie murmured, fear beginning to grab at the back of her throat when she tried to speak. “Why wouldn’t the Princesses of Atlantis be allowed in the Treasure Room?”
Selina rolled her eyes and glanced at her more patient sister. “Can you believe this? It’s like she hasn’t been listening at all!”
“He’s a greedy King,” Coralyn clarified in a slow voice, though she was beginning to smirk at her sister’s words. “Flesh and blood stops counting for much when there’s enough riches in those halls to rightfully take over Neverland.” She shrugged and started to drift back down the stone streets. “So we’ll just have to sneak you in. No worries – Peter said you were prepared and ready for anything!”
As the pair of mermaids began to wade closer to the castle, almost leaving their followers in the dust, Maggie eyed Peter over her shoulder. He was grinning, his cheeks beginning to take on an embarrassed shade of scarlet.
