Laurance and Blaze swam into the throne room after another failed day searching for Garroth. The entire castle was made of sandstone, making the walls look like marble of different hues of brown. The room they entered though was probably the most gorgeous one in the entire structure. It was detailed with gold and sea glass, cravings of O'Khasis' history were along the wall. King Garte was sitting on his throne made of sandstone, matching the room with seashells and the same glass, looking distraught and exhausted. Zane was by his side, looking up as the two came in.

"Anything?", He asked.

The two shook their heads, disappointed in themselves even without the look of disproval from the king. Garte didn't understand how the two of them could let Garroth and Zane slip away unnoticed that night. He questioned the whole security team to be honest. Not only that, he was upset at Zane for agreeing to go along with Garroth. Maybe if Zane had stayed, it would've encouraged his other son to do the same.

"We've searched the tunnels for miles but, we couldn't even find a trace of him. Lady Lucinda and Hyria have sent word to the Octopus clang of Pikoro to start a search party for him. Our other advisors have also sent word to Scaleswind and Falconclaw as well,", Laurance explained, gripping his sword out of anxiousness. He knew Garte would never hurt him but, it was more of a nervous habit. "We are trying everything we can to bring him home."

"Well try harder! Search in any possible route in those tunnels! Search in every direction from O'Khasis! Bring translators and ask the small fish colonies in the nearby coral reefs if you have to! I don't want anything to be left unchecked!", Garte demanded, aggressively.

Zane, seeing that seemed to frighten his two friends, placed a hand on his father to try and calm him down. It didn't help much but, it at least silenced him for the moment.

"What my father is trying to say,", Zane spoke professionally, holding his head high; "is that we should search any possible locations that Garroth maybe passed on his journey. We can't just assume he's still in those tunnels."

"Yes your highness,", Blaze bowed.

They took their orders and swam off. Zane turned back to his father and said; "You need to take a breath. Yelling isn't going to solve anything."

"I'm Garroth's father, just as much as I am your's and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure he's safe,", Garte said, sternly, getting out of his throne and swimming down the hall to get somewhere. But, Zane held him back.

"You need to understand that Garroth is not a child. He's has advance sword training and knows his way to survive in multiple environments. He can handle himself,", He said, looking straight into his father's eyes.

"Then why isn't he back yet? If Garroth is able to handle himself, he would've been here by now!", Garte hissed, faced flushed, having it with his son. "I'm not only your king but, your father! I will not rest until I have Garroth back!"

"But, father, all I'm saying-", Zane tried to calm him down again, but failed.

"I lost your mother and I'm not losing him either!", Garte shouted.

The room felt like it shook. Zane froze, realizing that it had escalated too far. His father barely mentioned his mother and when he did, he was brief. He knew how sensitive he was about it so he never pressured anything out. Garte seemed to notice the dead silence in the room and sighed;

"I...I'm sorry. Just...let me do this,", He was quiet afterwards, not another word came out before he swam out of the room.

Zane watched as he did so and when he was gone, he was still stiff. He crossed his arms, thinking about the events that played out moments before. He didn't realize that the door opened again slowly. A pink-haired mermaid poked her head into the room, a frown on her face. Her narrow, bright eyes and pale skin was usually enchanting to look at but, the light was diminished after hearing the argument from outside the door. As she swam in, her fuchsia colored tail shined in the room and her scales ran all the way up her chest, exposing only her back and part of her belly. Her ears and fins matched the tail with a gold glitter, accenting them. On her arms and wrist, she wore gold bracelets that were molded into koi fish, giving the illusion that they were gliding across her skin.
Nonetheless she was beautiful and the moment she swam into the room, Zane turned and greeted her with a smile;

"Hello Nana,", He said, trying to hide the pain and worry. "What have you been up to today?"

"Well, Lucinda and I, when she wasn't working, went out for breakfast. Then, I played some games with the children to help take their mind off of what's been going on,", She answered, wanting to assure him that she wasn't just wasting the day away. "But, I wanted to come to find you and ask if you needed a break. Unfortunately, I was too late to pull you away..."

Zane gently took her hands and said; "You have nothing to worry about."

"I do though. When you're upset, all I want to do is make you happy,", She explained, looking up into his crystal blue eyes. "I wish I could bring Garroth back...I really do. I know how much this is affecting you and your father..."

"Listen, Nana,", Zane said, softly, caressing her cheek; "he'll be fine. I know he'll come back because he can handle himself."

Even though she wanted to be realistic about this, Nana put a smile on her face and said; "You're right. This is Garroth we're talking about!"

Zane was always happy to see his love smile, so in a way, she did what she wanted. He kissed her lips and asked; "Do you want to go for a swim with me? Maybe meet up with those kids later?"

"I would love to!", She cheered, linking her arm to his, dragging him along.

•••

Aphmau rubbed her eyes, trying to make them feel better after staring at a computer screen for hours. Her and Aaron wanted to record all the information they found out today from Garroth. It wasn't much but, it was something. Aaron came up behind her and said; "It's late. You should head home. Katelyn shouldn't be alone with that jerk of a brother."

Aphmau giggled and said; "I will. I'm just gonna type this final point in."

"Okay then. Goodnight Aph! Drive safe!", Aaron waved, grabbing his bag.

Aphmau waved back as he walked out of the lab, leaving her alone. She's never been alone in here and for some reason, she kind of liked it. It was peaceful. You could hear the sound of the water outside and the tanks. She looked at the clock to see it was ten before looking at her phone seeing a text from Katelyn;

"Hey! I just wanted to let you know that I'm holding down the fort! I know how hard you must work so don't worry! I gotcha for tonight."

Aphmau smiled, noting to thank her when she got home. She started gathering her things when she heard a few dolphins call from one of the tanks. She rushed out to see what was going on and saw something that made her jaw drop.
Garroth's room that had his tank was just outside the rest of the aquarium for guest. There was a glass wall that exposed what was swimming in the aquarium that lined the hallway leading up to the room that was only for staff. Of course, it was the type of glass that you could only see through one side so there was no worry when it came to tourist seeing Garroth. This allowed though the blonde to see the life thriving inside the tanks. A dolphin, formally named Opal, was clicking away at Garroth who was doing some sort of hand motions. It astonished Aphmau, seeing the two interact. Opal must've popped a funny joke of some sort because Garroth chuckled behind the glass of his tank. He caught the glimpse of Aphmau and she saw a blush of embarrassment come to his face. She only smiled and gestured for him to continue. So he did.

After another few minutes the two wrapped up the conversation and the dolphin swam off. Aphmau walked up to the upper deck and to see Garroth who greeted her.

"You can speak to dolphins?", She asked, still very surprised.

"Y-Yeah, sort of. We recognize the order of their clicks and sounds, translating what they say. Then, we talk to them through hand motions,", He explained. "She said she really likes you by the way. Apparently you're the nicest one here."

Aphmau was flattered, even though she couldn't wrap her brains around what happened. "Well, tell her next time that I said thank you. Opal is a sweetheart."

"She's also a chatterbox,", Garroth chuckled. "She kept rambling on about how her open tank is fun and exciting every day."

"I'm glad she likes it,", Aphmau cheered, secretly overjoyed that an creature was happy.

"She mentioned something about how you never come in to swim with her like the other people she sees,", Garroth said, now coming up to the edge of the pool. "She wants to show you her fun ring game that she plays."

Aphmau grew slightly embarrassed and uncomfortable. You see, the poor girl didn't know how to swim. She loved the ocean and everything living inside but, she never learned how to be apart of it. Her mother never got her lessons since she was always working and she learned to stay in the swallow parts of the ocean. It wasn't like she didn't want to learn, she just didn't know how to start.

She looked down at Garroth, who at this point was confused why she wasn't as engaging as before. He already knew when Aphmau was happy or interested in topics...or at least he thought he did. Her face lights up, a smile going ear to ear. Now, there were no signs of it.

"Did I say something wrong?", Garroth asked, genuinely not wanting to hurt her feelings since she was one out of two people he felt comfortable around here.

"N-No! It's nothing! I'm just tired is all!", She lied, tucking hair behind her ear. "I...I'll see you in the morning though. I'm gonna get you some breakfast so, I'll see you early tomorrow, if that's okay."

"I mean, there isn't anywhere else I can go...,", He shrugged. "So, I'll be here."

Aphmau smiled and waved goodbye before Garroth dived back down under the water. Part of her wanted to become friends with Garroth but, there was still a wall in between them. There were obvious reasons as to why as well...
She went back to the lab to gather her things, only to see a pile of papers on the main table of the room. She knew her boss was still in the building so, she figured it was him. Curiosity struck her, wanting to know more. Having only an few years of experience, she wasn't allowed to do the crazy stuff like testing and stuff like that. So, she took the opportunity to read some of the papers. She saw studies of the dolphins, schools of fish in the aquarium, the building's special turtle named Speckle who had a missing arm. It was all super interesting but, what caught her eye was one about Garroth. It wasn't filled with a bunch of papers. Just a few stating what they were looking for.
Some were pretty innocent. Swim patterns, diet, and appearance. Language and mannerisms was one that was a little less blank than the others but, it was obvious that they were getting something from her and Aaron's research. She flipped the page, looking back before focusing in on it. She gasped and immediately was taken back by what she read.

"DNA Study"

"Dangers"

"Defense Mechanisms"

"Health Concerns"

All of those she knew the protocol for. It wasn't anything super serious but, knew it could be frightening to any animal. It involved a lot of poking, medical procedures, and sometimes hand to hand contact.
What concerned her the most was the one after that page;

"Autopsy"

That word frightened her. She didn't know if they wanted him dead or expected him to die in the next couple of days. Who knows? Maybe they expected him to starve himself and put the page in. But, what if it was the worst? She had to tell Aaron about this...

She heard footsteps coming down the hall. Quickly, she closed the folder and grabbed her stuff, leaving the room in a haste. She said goodnight to everyone who pasted by, trying not to look suspicious. She wished she could've checked on Garroth again before leaving but, she thought that maybe she was overthinking it and everything would be fine in the morning.

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