When we got back to the castle, I couldn't sleep at all. The scene of Arthuas and I kissing during the slow dance kept replaying inside my head. It was so perfect, passionate. There were so many words to describe it. It made my heart pound just thinking about it. My feelings for him were quickly becoming stronger than ever, like a drug that you couldn't stop taking.

Eventually, I managed to fall asleep when my mind thought about something else besides Arthuas. That morning, we couldn't stop staring at each other, especially during the royal breakfast. I occasionally glanced up from the table and looked at him as he bit into a delicious kelp cake. Afterward, we spent time together in the library, snuggling up on one of the comfy sofas as we read about the history of Atlantis.

"Hey, about last night. I just wanted to say that it was wonderful," I whispered. His eyes quickly grew wide, almost as if he did not expect me to say that. But, a small smile quickly spread across his face. "Me too. I enjoyed our first kiss," My mind still couldn't wrap around it. I had my first kiss with not only my crush but a prince. It felt just like one of those fairytales Veronica and I read about when we were younger.

"Come with me. I want to take you to a beautiful place," he whispered to me. I looked up at him, worried that he was going to take me somewhere bad. But when I looked into his eyes, I could tell that he wouldn't dare try to hurt me in any way. He led me down the hall, and soon we found ourselves near the coral garden. It was so beautiful. Bright, vibrant colors of all kinds of coral were standing right in front of me, from burnt orange to bright neon pink.

"The coral garden," I gasped. Arthuas nodded slightly and gently grabbed my hand, and led me into the garden. "My grandfather Poseidon made this place, he used to spend his free time here back when Atlantis was above the surface, and then there was an attack on Atlantis that caused the city to go underwater. All the coral you see before you is what remains of my grandfather's garden," Arthuas explained.

"Wow, it's quite remarkable how all of this survived," I said. "Yes, it is. Especially with how bad the attack on Atlantis was," I hadn't heard much about what caused Atlantis to go under the water. But because Arthuas and I had started trusting each other with our secrets, I wondered if he knew what caused Atlantis to go under. "I'm just curious, but could you explain how bad the attack on Atlantis was?" I asked. Arthuas let out a sigh and handed me a book that was titled, The Fall of Atlantis.

"Turn to Chapter Seven, page 56," he instructed. I complied and flipped through the pages until I found the right one, and sure enough, it explained what caused Atlantis to fall.

"Atlantis was once a thriving city for King Poseidon and his people to live freely, away from the pressure of society on the mainland. All was well on the 24th day of November 1774, until a beautiful woman rose from the water. Her hair was the color of wispy blonde, and her skin was white as the foam on the crest of the waves. She was found naked and put into nice clothing before being taken to the king. She told him that her name was Esme and that she was the ruler of beautiful creatures who had the voices of angels, but she revealed to him that her people were dying, and she begged him to give her food so her subjects could eat.

But when Poseidon looked into the Queen's heart, he could see that she was not a kind woman, so he refused her request. The Queen was outraged and returned to the water. But, little did Poseidon know that he had sealed the fate of his kingdom. A few hours later, Queen Esme returned. But this time, with hundreds of creatures who looked just like her with tails that had spikey fins. The Sirens began to sing loud and proud, and with the strength of their voices, caused a giant tsunami that flooded the city of Atlantis.

Thousands of Poseidon's people were killed. For those who were lucky to survive, Poseidon used his trident to turn them into creatures with the tail of a fish, and the curiosity of a porpoise. We were lucky to be alive, but we had to adapt to our new way of life by eating seaweed and other sea creatures to survive.

Poseidon locked the trident away, fearing that because of the power it possessed, it may cause Queen Esme to search for it and finish us off once and for all. He never revealed where he hid it. But, according to legends, the trident may be hidden near the border of Atlantis, and the Kingdom of the Sirens.