Story Walt Thompson And The Quest For The Seven Wonder Algae (Discontinued)

AlexneushoornTheGreat

AlexneushoornTheGreat

Steve Rhino
"Walt, it's time to wake up!" Walt's mother called.


"Coming, mom..." Walt groaned.


Walt got dressed and went downstairs. Walt was a Caucasian young man with short brown hair, pale green eyes and was of average build and average height. He sat down at the breakfast table with his mother Karen and his older brothers Jaden, Phillip and Beau. Walt was the misfit of his family, being seen as off kilter for believing in mermaids. Not only that, but his parents had gone through a messy divorce, with his mother getting custody of the kids, and Walt was a 15 year old teen dealing with his sophomore year of high school, where he's similarly seen as off kilter for believing in mermaids. Walt poured cereal into a bowl, then poured milk over it and began eating.


"Hey, Walt. Are you actually gonna be learning something at school, or are you gonna retreat into your head all day and spend time with your imaginary mermaid friends again?" Walt's eldest brother, Jaden taunted.


"Shut up, Jaden. You should be seen as off kilter for believing in ghosts." Walt replied with an annoyed look on his face.


"Don't get started on Jaden believing in ghosts, Walt! Unlike mermaids, ghosts actually have a possibility of existing!" Walt's second eldest brother, Phillip said, defending Jaden.


"You guys are making fools out of yourselves for believing in ghosts just as much as you're making a fool out of me for believing in mermaids." Walt retorted.


"Oh, put a cork in it, Walt! Face it: Mermaids aren't real, they've never been real, and they will never be real!" Walt's third eldest brother, Beau retorted back.


"Can you boys please stop arguing at the breakfast table?" Their mother Karen piped up.


"Yes, mom..." The boys sighed as they ate their breakfast, then got ready for school. Walt was relieved it was Friday, so it was almost weekend.
--
Meanwhile, under the sea surface, there lived merpeople: Mermaids and mermen alike, just like Walt believed. One of the many kingdoms under the sea, Clamafornia, was currently dealing with a disaster: Their king, Cameron Bolton was dying of illness, and he needed a sample of each of the Seven Wonder Algae to be cured. The only problem, he had no one suitable to gather these Algae.


King Cameron was in his bedroom in the Clamafornian palace, lying in his bed made of coral. He was a Caucasian merman with short black hair that is starting to gray along with hazel eyes and had a surprising muscular build for his age. He had a lined face and a black and white fishtail and wore a golden crown on his head with golden bracelets around his wrists and a talisman made of 18-carat solid gold studded with 12 diamonds and the birthstones of the 12 Zodiac signs around his neck. A royal merman retainer with a swarthy skin tone, blue hair and a tiger striped fishtail wearing a golden talisman around his neck was at his bedside. Cameron turned to his 14 year old daughter, Francine. "Francine, listen to me...I don't think I have much longer to live...If I die, please know that I love you, and that I'm proud of what you've become...And since you're heir to the throne, I want you to lead the people in my stead...I know you said that you can't do it, but I have the confidence that you can pull it off..." King Cameron told Francine as he held her slender and smooth hands.

Francine was a Caucasian mermaid with shoulder length black hair, hazel eyes and a black seashell bra with a C-cup breast size. She also had a black and white fishtail, as well as slender and smooth arms and hands and a skinny build, and wore a white bracelet on her left wrist, having been given it to her by her father on her birthday, and due to being royalty, she wore a golden crown on her head. She firmly held her father's hands as her lips quivered, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Don't speak to me like, dad...You won't die...You'll be better as long as you let me go out to gather the Seven Wonder Algae for you...Why not let me do it? I know I'm a princess, but that shouldn't matter! I can still save your life!"

If there's one thing that Francine had always been proud of, it was her ability to keep herself composed regardless of the situation she found herself in, but even she couldn't keep her composure in a situation like this. Her father was on his deathbed, a good number of years after illness had taken her mother, Queen Caradona from her. She wanted to go out to gather the Wonder Algae to save her father, but wasn't allowed to due to her status as royalty. Why did her father have to be so protective of her, even as he was dying?

"I know you can do it, Francine...But you're my only child...If something were to happen to you if I were to die while you are away, Clamafornia wouldn't have someone to take over the throne...And I don't want that to happen..." King Cameron told her. Sure, he knew Francine could go out and gather the Seven Wonder Algae for him, but he also knew that Francine was his only child and therefore the only heir to the throne of Clamafornia, and he wouldn't want Clamafornia to lose its only heir to the throne if he were to pass while Francine was away gathering the Seven Wonder Algae for him.


It hurt him to see Francine like this, and he didn't want to see her like this. He then began thinking about things before looking at Francine again. "Alright, you can go out and gather the Seven Wonder Algae for me...But on one condition: Take someone capable with you to protect you from danger..." He told Francine.

Francine's eyes widened upon hearing her father's words. "R-Really? I'm actually allowed to gather the Algae?" She inquired, a watery smile forming on her face as she began to dry her eyes. "Alright, I shall find a capable travel companion, I'll have them summoned to the palace by the end of the day, I assure you. But before I go out to find that travel companion, promise me one thing: Please be alive by the time I return. And I don't mean later today, but once I've gathered the Algae. Promise me you can fight this illness until I get back."

King Cameron smiled back at his daughter, being happy if she was happy. "Of course, Francine...I'm a strong individual...I can fight this illness until you and your travel companion return...Now go and find that travel companion...And once you've found them, bring them here, because I want to see them before you leave to find the Seven Wonder Algae..." He told Francine.

The blue haired merman retainer nodded to Francine. "I'll look after the king while you're gone, Princess Francine. Now go find that travel companion." He told the black haired princess.
--
Meanwhile, elsewhere under the sea, Walt was swimming around wearing scuba gear. He had decided to go for a quick swim before school, since his first period didn't start until 9:15 AM. As he was swimming, he saw a glowing stone lying on the ocean floor. Walt seemed interested in the stone and swam down to it and picked it up. The stone began glowing even more and melted into Walt's hand. "That was weird..." Walt thought to himself.

Then he felt weird as his legs began fusing together, skin moving to cover the new single shape. Two fins took the place of his feet, flattening, stretching and fanning out. His hands and arms became more muscular, and his new tail was covered in shiny blue scales. His chest and stomach gained chiseled abs. Walt then felt something painful in his neck, and found it impossible to breathe through the mask. He tore it off and inhaled water, only to feel his lungs fill properly again. He reached up to his neck and felt three slits on either side: He had gills. His face began to change, becoming more masculine. His eyes grew larger and his pale green eyes changed to a blue color. His short brown hair turned to a blonde color and grew down to shoulder length, and he became taller, growing to about 6 foot and 6 inches.

Walt gasped as he looked at himself. He had just turned from an average human into a tall attractive merman. "I can't believe it, I'm a merman!" He said to himself. "Hey! I can talk underwater!" He then realized. He then wondered about what to do.
 
After Francine had grabbed a bag and tied it around her waist, she proceeded to leave the castle to find her travel companion. Other than the knights, there weren't that many strong merfolk living in the castle, and it wasn't like there were any knights available to accompany on her quest, given that they were all guarding the king because of his weakened state. It wasn't common for Francine to leave the castle, but she was well aware that the right person to be her travel companion could be out there in the kingdom.

Despite her sheltered lifestyle, Francine was well aware that stories of powerful strangers came from the taverns and inns around the city, so the princess was going to search around there first. Taking off her crown and tucking it away in her bag, she swam quickly through the crowd of merpeople. Even though Francine was quite capable, she knew it was better that she didn't flash her royalty without any guards in her presence.
--
Walt moved his tail up and down and started swimming. He still couldn't believe this was real. He then began swimming through the ocean, waving to fish and swimming by undersea plant life. "Wow! This is so cool! I can speak normally and even breathe underwater! I never thought I'd say that, but awesome!" Walt swam some more, doing some loops occasionally, being a quick learner in swimming with his new tail.

Suddenly, he saw the glowing lights of Clamafornia, and his eyes widened. "Whoa, this must be a mermaid city!" Walt was rather bewildered and began to swim down to the city. "As long as I don't have to worry about water pressure..." A bunch of mermaid girls noticed him swimming and started winking and blowing kisses at him. Walt blushed and giggled. He was never really popular with the girls at his school due to his average appearance, but now that he was an attractive merman, that had changed.

Francine was nearby, and she had been about to enter a tavern when she caught notice of the mermaids gushing over someone. The princess nearly brushed it off with a bitter huff, since the vanity of merfolk could really get out of control at times, but then she noticed something was off about who the mermaids were gushing over.

Now, Francine wasn't one to claim that she knew everyone in the kingdom, but that merman looked strange. With most merpeople, you could tell what area of the kingdom they were from with a look. He was completely unidentifiable, as though he wasn't from the kingdom at all. It was strange, and she found herself swimming towards him before she could think her actions through. "Hey, who are you?"

Walt was about to swim off into the city to explore it when he noticed Francine swimming up to him and asking him who he was. He gave the shoulder length black haired princess a kind smile. "Me? I'm Walt. Walt Thompson. And you are?" He asked Francine curiously. He wasn't expecting a mermaid to actually come up to him and strike up a conversation with him, but he welcomed it, given that no one would care enough to start a conversation with him back on the surface.

"Uh, I'm France Norton." Francine quickly improvised, even though the false name she gave him in combination with her appearance would let the merman know who she really was. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Walt. I hope you don't mind me asking, but there's something about you I can't put my finger on. What area of the kingdom are you from?" She asked Walt with a curious tilt of her head, a long look resting on her face.

Walt smiled once the black haired mermaid gave him her name. "Well, it's nice to meet you too, France." He replied to her. When she asked him what part of the kingdom he was from, he chuckled nervously. "Well, you see, that's the thing. I'm new in this kingdom. It's my first day here, and I just moved here from the Gold Coast of Australia." He explained to Francine, trying to cover up that he was actually a human turned into a merman.

"The Gold Coast of Australia?" Francine let out an inquisitive hum at the merman's answer. "Strange, I can't say I've heard of that place. Given that you've traveled pretty far and used to live at a coast, where the water can be rather shallow..." She analyzed the merman before her. It takes strength and skill to survive in a shallow zone, what with those legged folk. And to have traveled so far meant he ought to be remarkably capable.

"Look, I know this sounds strange coming from someone you've only just met, but can I ask for your help? I believe you have the perfect experience for what I need. Your reward will be immense, I assure you."

"Yeah, it'd make sense you'd never heard of the Gold Coast. It's somewhere far off to the south, a few oceans over. And I did travel pretty far. I was tired of living in shallow water, so I figured I'd move to a place where the water is deeper, giving me more freedom to move around. And this city seemed like the perfect place for that." Walt nodded, being pretty good at the merman act already.

When Francine asked him for his help and remarking that she thought he had the perfect experience for what she needed, he smiled. "You really think I've got the experience for what you need? Well, I'll do my best to help with whatever it is you need help with." He told her.

Francine didn't expect to be able to convince the merman so easily. She thought she'd have to make him an offer before he'd even consider it, but she wouldn't question a miracle. "Oh, thank you. Please follow me to the palace, I'll explain the deal to you there." She hesitated a bit before she added to that statement. "You see, I work at the palace. I'm a servant to the princess. I was sent by her to get help." She wasn't sure how long she'd stick with the lies. There was a fair chance it could become a hostage situation once he realized how much she was worth, but it wasn't going to be easy to keep the illusion up when inside the castle. She'd deal with it when it came up, she supposed.

Walt gave Francine a nod. "Alright. Lead the way then. I'll be right behind you." He told her with a smile. He was excited about visiting a mermaid palace. Perhaps there'd be some merpeople there that could tell him more about the city he was currently in, which would really help, since he had yet to explore the ocean to get himself familiar with it.
 
Francine nodded, beginning the trip back. After checking that Walt was following, she told the merman: "The palace is a pretty high class place. I'd recommend you keep to yourself while you're inside, rumors spread faster than hot water." As the palace gates came into view, she waved off the guards. Since the guards had met her personally, they allowed her to pass despite her not wearing her crown.

Walt swam after Francine, following her to the palace. When she told him to keep to himself while he was inside the palace, he nodded. "I'll do my best, France. I know how merpeople talk." He replied to her. Once the guards let him and Francine into the palace, he swam inside with her, and then looked around in awe. He never knew that merpeople had such amazing craftsmanship.

"Wow, what a palace!" Walt remarked as he looked around.

Francine chuckled, sending Walt a grin. "I'm a bit desensitized myself, but this palace is the jewel of our kingdom. I wonder what your homeland's palace is like...?" She bit her lip, then shook her head. "I'm getting off track here. We've got to talk about the business at hand. Since you're new here, you might not have heard, so I'll be the first to tell you: The king is in bad shape. If we don't do anything to cure him, he'll pass away sooner or later." The princess forced a bitter smile as she spoke. "There's only one thing that can save the king's life. Please don't panic when I ask you this, but I need your help in finding the Seven Wonder Algae." She tensed, preparing herself for an outburst from Walt. Finding the Wonder Algae was no light task to ask of someone, especially a stranger.

Walt was shocked when Francine told him that the king of her kingdom was in grave danger, and he was even more shocked when she told him she needed his help in finding the Seven Wonder Algae. He thought about it before looking at Francine again. "I'll do it. I'll help you save the king's life, no matter what trouble may come." He told her. Sure, it was a lot of faith to put in Walt for him to gather the Seven Wonder Algae to save King Cameron's life, but he wanted to prove that now that he was a merman, he could be a hero and save the day, especially after being mistreated for most of his life.

"Thank you so much. You can't imagine how much this means to me. But before we can prepare to leave on our quest, we have one more thing to take care of: You'll need to meet with the king. Don't be nervous about meeting him, he's a wonderful man, really." Francine told Walt with a small smile, a distant look in her eyes. The smile faded just as quickly as it came as the princess swam off into the palace without another word, navigating the halls with ease. She entirely ignored the looks she was getting from the servants, hoping that Walt would be too busy keeping up with her to notice.

"Anytime, France. Anything to help out the kingdom I have just become part of." Walt told Francine. When Francine mentioned he had to meet with the king, he nodded. "I'm glad to hear he's a great guy. Let's get going." He said as he began to follow after Francine, and was indeed too busy keeping up with her to notice the looks they were getting from the servants.

Francine then proceeded to lead Walt to her father's bedroom, giving the guards that were at the door a nod. The guards nodded back as they moved out of the way, allowing Walt and Francine to get closer. The princess then knocked on the door twice. "Your Majesty, it's me! I found someone!" She called. As she waited for either her father or a servant to answer the door, she turned to Walt.

"Let me do most of the talking. You should still answer if he speaks directly to you, but I need to make sure this goes well." She was going to add to that, but was silenced when the door opened. She smiled politely, ushering Walt inside.
 
Walt nodded. "Alright. I'll do whatever you need me to do in there." He said to Francine before the door to King Cameron's bedroom opened, then followed Francine inside.

King Cameron watched as he saw Francine enter with Walt. He raised an eyebrow at Francine returning with such a handsome merman. He was very selective on who she socialized with, but he had a good feeling about this merman. "Back already, Francine? I didn't expect you to return this quickly, especially not with such a brawny merman like this..." He remarked as he looked at Walt.

Walt raised an eyebrow at King Cameron using Francine's real name. He looked at King Cameron, then at Francine, then back at King Cameron and... "Ohmigosh, she's a princess herself..." He realized in his head. He was going on a quest with a mermaid princess to save her father, the king of the kingdom!

Francine glanced over at Walt at the use of her real name. She sighed as he realized her status, so she let her act fall. She reached into her bag and got her crown out of it before putting her crown back on her head before handing the bag she used to hold her crown to the blue haired merman retainer who was still at her father's bedside before shifting her attention back to her father.

"I told you I'd be quick, didn't I?" She sent King Cameron a smile before dramatically gesturing to Walt. "This wonderful lad goes by the name of Walt. He's come a long way from the Gold Coast of Australia, so he ought to be one of the most experienced travelers in the kingdom. Who better to go with than someone who knows how to handle the open seas? And before you ask, yes, he knows how dangerous this is."

Her demeanor when talking to King Cameron was notably different from when talking to Walt. Her posture was relaxed and she spoke in more of a casual tone. There was something sad in her eyes, though, as she tried to ignore the sickness in his.

King Cameron looked at Walt and then back at Francine. "The Gold Coast of Australia...? He's indeed come a long way from home to get here...And if that's the case, he might just be the one who can protect you from the dangers of the open seas...Bring that merman here...I want to see him a bit closer..." He told Francine.

"Go ahead, Walt." Francine gently pushed Walt towards her father, giving him a pat on the back. She offered a comforting smile, knowing firsthand how hard it could be to talk with important people. All those mandatory dinners with foreign royals were stressful, and it always felt like a single mistake could ruin everything. She knew her father wasn't like that, though, so she did her best to convey that without words.

Walt nodded silently as he was gently pushed towards the king by Francine, just being at a loss for words at the moment since he was going to be talking to a merman king. Once he was close enough, King Cameron looked at Walt and vice versa. "So, Walt...Do you really think you have it in you to protect my daughter on this dangerous quest to find the Seven Wonder Algae...?" King Cameron asked him.


"Yes, I do, Your Majesty..." Walt replied as he made a courtesy bow, for men especially. It would've been better if he had actual legs rather than a tail for his lower half, but he still showed quite some respect for royalty.


King Cameron gave him a nod. "Alright...Then I'll leave my daughter in your capable hands...Here, have this map..." He told Walt as he pulled a map from under his pillow and handed it to Walt. "This map will lead you to the Seven Wonder Algae...Also, feel free to take 2000 gold coins and some weapons with you...You might need it for a trip like this..." He added.

Francine nodded to her father. "We'll have to visit the armory before we go, then. I propose we meet there once the both of us have our stuff packed. I can be packed in an hour or so, what about you?" She didn't know Walt's situation, but since he was new to the kingdom, she imagined that whatever he may have would be quick to pack.

"I honestly don't really have any stuff to pack. I came to this kingdom with literally nothing." Walt admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "But since this is gonna be a long trip, I might as well get myself a bag and pack a few things, am I right?" He added.

King Cameron was surprised to hear that Walt came all the way from the Gold Coast of Australia to Clamafornia with literally nothing on him. "You traveled several oceans with nothing on you...? Not even a bag...? That's impressive..." He remarked. King Cameron was even more impressed by Walt's supposed capabilities now. "Well, since you have nothing on you to pack, I shall lend you a bag so you may pack a few things..." He added as he pulled a large empty bag from underneath his pillow as well before handing it to Walt.

Walt smiled at that. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I greatly appreciate it." He told King Cameron as he bowed before him again. He was starting to take a liking to King Cameron already, even though he didn't look too good given he was dying from illness.

King Cameron gave Walt a nod. "Anytime, Walt...Head to the kitchen, the alchemist lab and finally to the treasury before going down to the armory...Francine shall guide you there...I wish you two the best of luck..." He told the two of them.

"I guess you can come with me while I get my stuff together, then. I'll lead you around as soon as I'm done, but...Before that, can you wait outside for a moment?" Francine wasn't a fool, she knew that there was a fair chance her dad would never see the day she returned. She wouldn't leave without a proper goodbye.
 
Walt nodded to Francine. "I will. Take your time." He told her before swimming out of the room as the guards closed the door behind him. Walt then proceeded to wait for Francine to say her proper goodbyes to her father in case he were to pass away while she and Walt were gone.

As Walt was waiting outside King Cameron's bedroom, three mermaids roughly his age swam up to him. Obviously servants of the castle. Two of them were Caucasian, the one in the middle had a slightly darker skin tone. The Caucasian mermaid on the left had a white fishtail with a white seashell bra along with long wavy blond hair. The darker skinned mermaid in the middle had a dark red fishtail with a dark red seashell bra and black dreadlocks while the other Caucasian mermaid on the right had an orange fishtail with an orange seashell bra, brown hair and had bronze earrings in her ears.

"Hi there! Are you that merman we saw swimming through the palace halls with Princess Francine earlier?" The blond haired mermaid asked Walt.

"I guess that would be me. I can't stick around for long though, as Princess Francine and I are going out to collect the Seven Wonder Algae to save the king's life." Walt explained to her.

"Really? You're so brave!" The black dreadlock-haired mermaid gushed as she and her friends fanned their bright red faces and tried to wrap their tails around Walt's in a not so subtle way.

"Oh, we do hope you come back safely! All of the kingdom would greatly value you!" The brown haired mermaid gushed more.

Walt blushed and chuckled. "Oh, I will come back safely. But only because the king's life depends on it." He told them.
--
Meanwhile, back inside the room, King Cameron looked at Francine. "Francine, I wish you and Walt the best of luck during your travels, and may you bring back a sample of all the Seven Wonder Algae safely so that I may be cured of my illness...If I am unfortunate enough to pass away while you're out traveling, I want to say goodbye to you, and your Uncle Owen will be there for you to help you in ruling the kingdom...But I have faith that you and Walt can save my life..." King Cameron told Francine as he gave her one last hug before she left. "Now go forth and prepare for your travels..." He told Francine.

Francine returned the hug tightly before pulling away, "You're my hero, and now...Now it's my turn to save you. Goodbye, dad. I love you." She hesitated, giving him one last look before turning away.

When Francine left King Cameron's room, she found herself rather appalled. "What in the seven seas are you three doing?" She stared for a moment, her shock shifting into something more akin to disgust, "The last thing I expect of our staff is to be rubbing up on the guests. And right outside the king's door! Have you no shame? And what if Walt here was a prince or an advisor? Think how that would reflect on our kingdom! Unbelievable. If I were anyone else, you'd all have been fired on the spot." It was known that Francine was easy on the servants, so her current outburst was something of a rarity.

She glowered at them, her disapproving glare flickering over to Walt as well. "And you. Don't just let strangers cross tails with you! Grow a backbone and learn how to say no."

The three mermaid servants gasped upon seeing Francine there, and they were looking quite pale. "W-We're sorry, Princess Francine..." The blond haired servant told Francine in a frightened tone.

"Yes, please forgive us! We let our feelings get the best of us!" The black dreadlock-haired servant pleaded.

"It won't happen again, we promise!" The brown haired servant added.

Walt also gulped, looking quite pale at seeing Francine angry. She was right though: He shouldn't let mermaids who were total strangers to him get up on him like these three did. He gave Francine a nod. "Understood, Princess Francine. I will learn to say no to mermaid girls' advances." He told the black haired princess as the three mermaid servants unwrapped their tails and the four of them bowed before Francine.

Francine rolled her eyes at the servants, "Just don't do it again. Now get to work, I'm sure you're all running late by now." The servants nodded silently and quickly swam off. When they were gone, Francine looked back at Walt with a quiet huff. She found it odd that he said ''mermaid girls'' instead of just ''girls'' since every girl was a mermaid girl, but her frustration outlived her curiosity and she didn't ask.

"Come on, let's go. My room's just down the hall." She swam to the end of the hall, going into her room without a word.

Francine's room had a similar black and white style to her tail. She had figurines carved from seaglass decorating her shelves, each one forming a different fish. Hanging from the roof was a large glass jellyfish, which lit up to illuminate the room. Unlike her father's coral bed, Francine's was made from large, black and white shells filled with fine sand.

Francine went to her closet, retrieving a large backpack. As she fiddled with it, she looked back at Walt. "You can sit on the bed." Her tone was still short, but she didn't sound particularly angry anymore.
 
Walt watched as the mermaid servants swam down the hall before turning back to Francine. "Yeah, better get packing. Every second lost is precious time lost trying to find those Wonder Algae." He nodded before he followed Francine to the end of the hall before following her into the room. He looked around Francine's bedroom in awe.

"Wow, her bedroom is beautiful...I wonder if all bedrooms in the palace look this nice..." Walt thought to himself before Francine told him he could sit on the bed. He gave Francine a nod again. "Alright then." He replied as he sat down on the bed. "I'm really sorry about earlier. Girls have always swooned over me back home at the Gold Coast, and I guess that's something I took with me to this city." He explained to the princess.

Francine unzipped the bag, setting it down as she started to gather a few more shell bras and a winter cloak. "Don't worry about it, I'm not too mad about it. I just find it weird." She shut the closet, moving to her vanity. As she did so, she continued to speak to Walt.

"I never understood why so many merpeople have a personality more shallow than a stretch of dry land. It makes me happy I didn't end up like that, but that probably has to do with the fact my dad chooses what merpeople I get to hang out with, so it's probably a double-sided blade." She took her hair comb, carved from rock and embedded with little gems, and a small bottle of healing gel. The stuff wasn't very strong, only meant for tiny cuts, but she figured it wold be worth bringing.

"Your father chooses who you get to socialize with? Sheesh, sounds a bit strict..." Walt remarked. His mom wasn't really selective on who he socialized with, but that was mainly because his mom didn't ever really bat an eye at what he did, this mostly being because Walt's mom was disappointed in her son because of how much he spent in his head living in his own fantasy world. And it wasn't like anyone would want to hang out with Walt anyway, since his brothers and all the kids at school saw Walt as off-kilter for believing in mermaids.

But it probably made sense for Francine's father to be selective on who she socialized with because she was royalty.

"I thought so at first too. Nowadays, I don't really think of it too much, but when I was little, I'd be pretty angry with my dad that I couldn't befriend a stranger." Francine told Walt, chuckling at the memory before dropping a small token with the royal seal into her bag. Having her crown should be enough, but it wouldn't hurt to have additional proof of who she was.

"I think that's most of what I need, the rest should be covered in our next few stops. The kitchen, alchemy lab, treasury, armory...Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the order dad said." Francine glanced around her room, not quite wanting to leave just yet. It wasn't easy leaving everything she knew behind.

Walt nodded. "That's understandable. As a child, you want to be able to have fun just like all the other children, but when you're royalty, that's a lot harder." He said. When Francine finished packing, he gave the princess another nod. "Yeah, I think that's indeed the order that your father gave us. Better get around to packing my stuff too. First up, the kitchen." He said as he got up from the bed and swam out of the room, then waited on Francine.

Walt still couldn't believe that he was going on an adventure with a mermaid princess to save a merman king. While he was a merman himself, no less. But he'd probably get used to it soon enough as their journey unfolded. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what dangers roamed the deep blue oceans of the world. Would there be sharks ready to eat them? Would there be octopuses ready to suffocate them to death? Would there be stingrays ready to pierce through their chests and kill them? He shook his head as he didn't want to think about dying himself when Francine's father was already in a critical state.

Francine picked up her bag and followed Walt out, taking the lead. "There's more than one kitchen in the palace, but we'll be going to the fancier one. If the staff's in, I'll introduce you! The head chef's a great gal, I bet she'll hook us up with the best treats you can imagine. Well, the best nonperishable treats you can imagine." Nonperishable foods were rather hard to come by underwater, since they usually had to be dried out above the surface and kept in a tight container. There was a rotation system in place for doing so away from the legged folk, but it was too dangerous to be done in mass.

She stopped by the kitchen door, pushing it open without bothering to knock.
 
Walt gave Francine a smile and a nod. "That sounds rather nice. Back on the Gold Coast, I usually survived off nothing but seaweed, algae and other underwater plants. Like other merpeople at the Gold Coast, we were raised as vegetarians out of respect for our fish brethren. I assume things work the same in this city?" He asked Francine curiously.

"Well, like where you hail from, here in this neck of the ocean, it's common for merpeople to be vegetarian, although there are certain kinds of fish deemed acceptable to eat. After all, this is the ocean, and there's going to be a lot of times where there's nothing but fish around, especially when you're out in the big open. As long as you don't eat any of the more intelligent species or make them suffer a long death, we won't frown upon merpeople for eating meat." Francine explained.

Walt was relieved that merpeople were allowed to eat meat under the sea. He wanted to make sure that he wouldn't offend any merpeople by eating meat, so hearing Francine that there were a few kinds of fish that merpeople were allowed to eat put him at ease. "Ah, that's good to know. In that case, I might make an exception in eating meat. After all, it's a new world I'm gonna be living in, so I might as well get used to how food works here, am I right?" He replied to Francine.

"You're really fine with eating meat despite your vegetarian upbringing? Well, I'm sure that the head chef will be able to set you up with a few treats that sure to get you used to eating meat then." Francine smiled at Walt before the two of them turned to the head chef swimming up to them.

"Ah, Princess Francine! Good to see you! What can I get you and your companion?" She asked, looking at Walt. The head chef was a brown skinned young mermaid with black hair, a black seashell bra and a light blue fishtail. She wore a professional chef's outfit considering of a white chef hat and a white chef shirt that covered her torso.

"Hey, good to see you, too! Walt and I are getting ready to leave." Francine grinned, gesturing to the bags she and Walt had. "I finally got dad's permission to go, can you believe it? So we're looking to get some food that'll last us a while." She informed the head chef, who proceeded to nod in response with a smile.

"Really?! Good for you, Francine! I'll go grab you and Walt a few things to keep yourselves fed during the first part of your journey!" The chef spoke before swimming off to get Walt and Francine what they needed.

"It wasn't easy to get food in any of the restaurants I visited during my travels to get to Clamafornia when you had a vegetarian upbringing. Some of those restaurants actually had to order ingredients to make me a vegetarian three-course meal." Walt told Francine, laughing a bit as he also rubbed the back of his neck for a bit.

"Really? You must've been traveling through some of the depths then. What was it like? I've always wondered about them. Wide spaces, nothing but open seas on all sides...I've even heard of fields of jellyfish, of being able to meet whales...It's always been something of a dream of mine to see them." Being bound to the palace meant Francine never saw many of the beauties of her kingdom. She liked the palace, of course, but there was a big world outside of it.

"You have no idea how beautiful the big blue oceans can be. I've watched schools of sea turtles swimming by, manatees, seals, I've seen them all. And there's plenty of room out there in the open to do somersaults, flips, loopings and the like. I'm sure you'll like it out there." Walt told her with a smile. In reality, Walt was a complete stranger to the deep blue oceans, but pretended he knew about the beauty of the deep blue oceans to cover up that he was actually a human turned into a merman, since he wasn't sure how the princess would react to this.

"Yeah? That sounds like fun. Maybe when all of this is over, we can go back to the depths for a while. Not for any mission or anything, just for the heck of it." Francine fidgeted with her bracelet, going from looking at Walt to watching the chef every few seconds. She'd realized as soon as she finished speaking that she may have sounded too eager. Why would she want to hang out with someone she just met? And...Why did she feel more excited to see the depths with Walt than to just see them at all?

Francine flicked her wrist just under the bracelet, snapping away from that line of thinking. It was probably just the lack of friends getting to her, she'd have to arrange a get together once her dad was feeling better.

Walt gave Francine a nod. "Yeah, that'd be nice. I'd love to go back to the depths for a while too once this is all over. It'd bring back some good memories of the travels I've done to get to this kingdom." He replied with a smile. Like Francine, Walt sounded pretty eager about it all. He barely knew Francine, yet he couldn't help but feel excited to be around her. He shrugged the thought off as well, since it was probably the infinite amount of disaffection rising to his head.

A short while later, the chef came back with a few Tupperware boxes filled with food. "Here you go, Francine. Barred knifejaw, red snapper and horse mackerel for you and your companion. That should be enough to keep you both satiated for the first leg of your journey." She told Francine with a smile.
 
"Looks like we'll have a good start, eh, Walt?" Francine shifted her attention to the chef. "And thanks, I really appreciate it. Tell the boss I owe you one, but don't be slacking while I'm gone now!" Francine sent her a teasing grin, collecting her portions to put into her bag. When they were stored beneath her clothes for minimal jostling, she turned to her companion.

"You good to go? The alchemy lab's next. I don't go there much, so all I can tell you about the place is that it smells kinda funny." Such is the result of keeping so many ingredients in one place. On some of her visits, all she could smell was kelp. On others, it was the metallic stench of minerals. It really just depended on what was being mixed that day.

The chef grinned back at Francine. "Anytime, Francine. I'll be sure to tell the boss about it. Good luck on your travels." She replied back.

Once Walt had stored his meals into his bag, he turned to Francine. "Alrighty then. I assume that the alchemist can provide us with some medicine in case we need it along the way?" He asked the black haired princess with a curious tilt of his head. From what little he had paid attention to during his science classes, alchemy could help cure diseases, so he figured that the royal alchemist fulfilled the same duties.

"Pretty much, yeah." Francine dipped her head, swimming over to the kitchen door. She called out one last goodbye to her friend before leading Walt back into the hall. "The lab's just over this way."

Francine knocked cautiously on the lab door. "I hope we're not interrupting anything." Sure, Francine was never scolded or given a slap on the wrist for bothering the staff, but the princess still felt bad whenever she put more work their plates. Alchemy was probably the case where she felt the most bad about bothering staff, since one mistake could ruin a whole project when it came to this field of work.

Walt nodded as he followed Francine out of the kitchen and towards the alchemy lab. He was curious how merpeople's medicine worked. Did it perhaps have some merfolk magic involved or anything like that? Perhaps he was about to find out soon.

After Francine knocked on the door, the door was soon opened as a middle aged merman with spiked black hair that was graying and purple eyes was floating there. He had a purple fishtail and wore a white lab coat along with safety goggles. "Ah, Princess Francine! Good to see you! Is there something you need from me?" The alchemist asked Francine.

"My friend here and I were looking to get some things for a long journey. I'm thinking a few salves, cures for the common ills, and anything else you think would be of use." Francine peered inside the lab from the doorway, curiously looking around. She couldn't tell what was being worked on at the moment, but the lab was certainly in use.

The alchemist looked at Walt, then back at Francine and nodded. "Certainly, Princess Francine. I'll get you a few things that could be of use for your long journey. Give me a moment, please." He said as he swam back into his lab to get a few salves, cures for the common ills and the like.

"A chef, an alchemist...Is there anything this palace doesn't have?" Walt asked Francine curiously. He wondered how much staff worked at the palace, and perhaps Francine could answer that question, since she knew the palace and its staff like the back of her hand.

"The palace is a self-sufficient place, so it's got pretty much everything that a small town would have. While I usually don't think about whatever we don't have, if I had to think about it off the top of my head...We don't have a dolphin stable. We used to have one, though. It served as housing for companion dolphins. They were paid with free housing, food and friendship in exchange for helping merpeople traverse the kingdom. It would be helpful if it were still around, but it got abolished when I was little. I'm not sure why it was abolished exactly, but my guess is one of the stable workers did something to offend them." Francine explained.

Walt nodded at what Francine told him. "I see...Yeah, some dolphins would be be helpful in getting through the oceans and collecting the Wonder Algae faster, but alas." He replied. Soon, the alchemist came back and handed a few salves, cures for the common ills and other medicine to Francine.

"There you go. That should do the trick. Good luck on your journey, Princess Francine. I hope you and your companion will return safely. Speaking of your companion...Is he your boyfriend?" He asked Francine with a small smirk as Walt began blushing madly.

"Absolutely not!" Francine declared, crossing her arms defensively with a flushed face. "And even if he was, it's none of your business! Come on, Walt, let's go." She took hold of his arm, pulling him away with her.

After they'd gotten a decent distance from the alchemy lab, Francine's embarrassment faded, "Anyway. Pretending that didn't happen, next on the list is the treasury. Don't touch anything in there, got it? I'll get all the money and give you half when we leave." She never let go of his arm, but her grip was light enough that she forgot about it.
 
"Don't worry, I was just teasing you, Princess Francine!" The alchemist called after her as she swam off with Walt, then went inside his lab again, closing the door behind him.

After Francine had taken him away from the alchemy lab, Walt sighed a bit. "Yeah, I'm just gonna pretend that didn't happen..." He told Francine as they made their way towards the treasury, which was being guarded by two stocky well-built merman guards wearing golden helmets, body armor and carried large golden spears. He gave Francine a nod when she told him not to touch anything in the treasury. "So I just wait out here while you get the money?" He asked her.

"That'd be best. Nothing against you or anything, it'll just make things easier." Francine released Walt's arm, waving to the guards. "I have permission from my father to retrieve 2000 coins from the treasury." She informed them, tapping her crown for emphasis. The guards nodded in understanding as they allowed Francine entry, and the princess quickly swam inside the treasury, making haste to gather the necessary funding for the trip. Putting the coins into a large pouch, Francine made a rough estimate of 2000 gold coins by eye. She was experienced with the treasury, so she was confident in her abilities to make accurate estimates.

Walt nodded as he watched Francine swim off into the treasury while he waited outside. As he looked around, he occasionally saw more mermaid servants of the castle swimming by, giving him dreamy stares. Walt took a deep breath as he did his best to ignore this, since Francine had advised him earlier to grow a backbone and say no to the advances of mermaids. He continued to wait outside of the treasury for Francine's return. Eventually though, two mermaid servants swam up to him.


The first mermaid servant was Caucasian and had a ginger hair color along with a green fishtail and a purple seashell bra, while the other mermaid servant had a darker skin tone with black hair and had a pink fishtail along with a pink seashell bra and pink earbells. "We heard from some of the other servants that you and Princess Francine will be saving the king, correct?" They asked Walt. Walt silently nodded to confirm. "Wow, the other servants were right, you really are brave." They sighed happily as they were fawning over Walt, as the blond haired merman was not impressed. The vanity of mermaids really got out of control, from what he has seen so far today.

The two mermaid servants then embraced Walt, feeling his dominant, chiseled abs. "My, Clamafornia could really use such a handsome hero such as yourself. It'd be great to have some to look up to when times are tough." They gushed.


"Look, ladies. I know that I'm handsome and all, but could you please stop? All this attention is making me uncomfortable..." Walt told them.

Francine then came back out of the treasury, having put the pouch of coins into her bag for when they had left the palace. Pausing as the door fell shut, she let out an annoyed sigh as she saw some more servants rubbing up on Walt. "Oh, for the love of Queen Caradona's jewel encrusted crown..." Francine muttered to herself, running a hand through her hair as she addressed the servants. "Look, I don't feel like getting upset again, so let me make myself clear: Make yourselves scarce or I'll make sure you won't have a job by the end of the day."

Once Francine had returned from her quest and her father had been cured, she was definitely going to have to change the Clamafornian education system. She knew that merfolk were a vain species, but since they were generally too respectful to flirt with the crown princess, she didn't know how bad it could really get. The first incident couldn't have happened more than an hour ago.

The two mermaid servants gasped upon hearing Francine's voice and turned to her, removing their arms from Walt's body. "Y-Yes, Princess Francine..." They nodded and proceeded to quickly swam off. Walt sighed in relief once the mermaid servants left.

"Man, I knew mermaids were flirts, but I'd never thought it'd be this bad...I mean, I had this kind of stuff going on back home on the Gold Coast too, but not as bad as this..." Walt spoke before he looked at Francine. "Thanks for dealing with this." He said, giving the princess a small smile. He was grateful for her telling the servants off.

Francine returned it halfheartedly, "It's no problem. Let's just move on, shall we? One more stop and we're out of here." She hoped to all that was divine that they wouldn't be stopped every five minutes by some flirty mermaids. Thinking about that possibility left a dull ache in her gut and made her smile grow a tad more bitter. She spoke again as she started the path to the armory.

"Do they stop you when you're traveling? I'm looking forward to the depths, but if there's going to be a flock of ladies there, too...Maybe we should cancel that plan to go back out there once we're done then." At least in the palace Francine had power over it- she could fire her staff or have nobles removed. Outside of the palace, there wasn't much she could do without the presence of a guard. She was even further upset at the idea of watching helplessly as ladies rubbed up on Walt.
 
Walt nodded to Francine and began to swim towards the armory with her. "Sometimes. Most of the time when I'm traveling, they tend to mind their own businesses, but sometimes, they tend to stop me and ask for my shellphone number, even though I don't have a shellphone with me. So I don't think that the ladies are gonna be that much of a hassle." Walt assured her, keeping the small smile. He'd hate to have to cancel his trip back to the depths with Francine just because all the mermaids in the sea fawning over him. He'd really want to get to know Francine better once this was all over.

"A...shellphone? What is that?" Francine asked Walt, giving him a strange look as she made her way down another hallway. The armory was a decent distance away, since it was near the palace entrance whereas the treasury sat at the heart of the palace.

Other than being a bit confused about these "shellphones" that Walt mentioned though, Francine felt a wave of relief falling over her. Whether it be the regular flirting she knew all too well or the flirting through these "shellphones", it didn't matter to Francine. She'd feel disheartened to have to watch someone flirt with Walt again. It was a strange thought to come to Francine's mind, but the princess didn't let the thought dwell in her head for too long though. After all, there was nothing wrong with disliking other people flirt, right?

"A shellphone is a form of communication where I'm from. You use it to communicate with other merpeople from either a short or long distance. I'd show you, but I never took a shellphone with me after I left the Gold Coast." Walt explained to her as they were swimming towards the armory. Walt kept covering things up, since merpeople apparently didn't have their own equivalent to cellphones down under the sea. Hopefully he could keep the merman act up long enough to not raise suspicion from the princess.

"I can't believe I've never heard of such a thing. I'll have to mention it to my dad when we get back, I'm sure the people would love it. I'd be able to talk with my friends without all those formal invitations..." Francine theorized for a bit longer, making the ''shellphones'' sound more akin to magic than technology.

"Sorry, I got off on a tangent, there. The armory's not much further, so can I ask what you're looking for? I'm a rapier kind of gal, myself." Francine had managed to get a few lessons in swordfighting from hesitant guards, but there was still a lot of room for improving her skill. She figured that's what happened when you were a princess; People would expect you to be capable of defending yourself without the proper training, so she hoped Walt was skilled enough with a weapon that he'd be able to teach her a few things. He looked strong enough for a greatsword, or maybe he was more of a dexterous type and would go for a trident...

Walt nodded. "I'm sure the people of Clamafornia would love it. It certainly makes communication from short or long distances a lot easier." He told Francine with a smile. Once this was all over, he could try and make a shellphone for her. Back on the surface, he was studying computer programming, so he could potentially build a shellphone from scratch, since he also liked to tinker with electronic apparatuses such as computers and cell phones back on the surface.

When Francine asked him what weapon he was looking for, Walt thought about it. "If you have any tridents, I'd love to borrow one." He replied. Now that he was a merman, he figured that tridents were a common weapon for knights down here, and if he was gonna stay with Francine and the other Clamafornians once this was all over, he'd better get some combat experience with a trident.

"Ooh, classy. We've got a lot of those, so there's bound to be one that's fit for you." Since tridents were, as Walt suspected, a common weapon, there were plenty of usable styles. There were ones with weighted handles so that the large head of the trident wasn't cumbersome, there were different lengths and widths for the head, and there were different lengths for the handle. A lot could be learned about a person's fighting style through what trident they use.

"And here we are." Francine pushed open the armory's door. She didn't knock, since there wasn't exactly a staff assigned to the armory. There were the ones working the forge, which was just through another door, but usually merfolk would just send their servants to get what they need from the armory. There were still a few guards, some of which were off duty and cleaning their weapons. Francine gave them a polite wave before turning to Walt. "So. I already know where my rapier is, but you've got options. You can look around here, see if there's anything you like." She gestured to the racks of weapons, a section of which was just for tridents, "Or, if there's nothing you like, go through that door and speak with the forgemaster. It'll take longer, since he'd have to make a new one, but I'd rather spend more time getting the right weapons than to have the wrong one when we need it."

Walt looked around the armory in awe once him and Francine entered, seeing all sorts of weapons lying and hanging around. Judging by the weaponry that merpeople made, they meant serious business if you were to wrong them. He made a mental note not to tick off any merpeople since they were bound to carry weaponry such as the ones inside of this armory, since he wouldn't want to be made into fish filet by some angry merman/mermaid knights.

When Francine told him he could look around and see if there was a trident he liked, he gave her a nod. "Alrighty, I'll take a look at what tridents they have to offer." He replied to her. He then swam towards the rack filled with tridents, scanning his large blue eyes across them to see if there was a trident he liked. After looking for a bit, he finally saw a trident he liked: A trident with an 18-carat solid gold handle and a silver head. He took it off the rack and looked at it with a smile as he held the trident in his hand.

"I think this trident and I will be going places..." Walt thought to himself with a smile before he swam over to Francine. "I think I'll be taking this one." He told the black haired princess as he showed her the trident he picked.
 
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While Walt was over at the tridents to choose one for the long journey ahead, Francine found herself over the rapiers, and she proceeded to grab one of them. It was made from silver, having a handle covered in small pearls and a few fancy engravings, with the sheath looking like that as well as well as having a strap to put on her shoulder. The princess then proceeded to sheath her rapier at her hip after having put on the sheath.

After having grabbed her rapier, Walt swam over to her and showed her the trident he picked. "That's definitely a good choice. Now that we're all set for departure, we should check the map and see which of the Wonder Algae we should find first. My dad gave you the map, right?" Francine asked him with a tilt of her head.

Walt smiled and nodded, grabbing the map from the bag he had put on his back. "He did. I'll make sure we don't lose it." He assured Francine before putting the map back into his bag before he proceeded to tie said bag around his waist so he could put his newly acquired trident on his back. "Well, let's get going." The blond merman said as he began to leave the armory together with Francine.

"Yes, let's." Francine nodded hesitantly, being a bit uneasy that she was actually going to be leaving the palace for at least a few days. Once she and Walt reached the palace doors, she requested the guards to open them and the two teenage merpeople floated in the doorway for a moment as Francine looked at the palace one more time as she mentally bid it farewell before turning to Walt. "So, since you'll be the navigator on this quest, where to first?" She asked him.

Walt looked around the palace one more time himself. He was most likely going to be leaving Clamafornia for a few days, so he wouldn't be seeing the palace for a while. Once they arrived at the palace entrance and Francine asked him where they had to go first, Walt pulled out the map and took a look. "Alright, the fist Wonder Algae should be located...20 miles southwest of Clamafornia, in the Sea Caves of the Gulf of Mexico." He replied to her.

"Hm...That's not too far away from here, so the first leg of our journey should be easy..." Francine hummed as she faced southwest, capable of telling the direction through the buildings of Clamafornia. "If we're lucky, we could make it to the caves by nightfall, and if we go at an average pace, we could make it there with about two or three breaks...But that's something we can worry about at a later time. Before we make it to the location of the first Wonder Algae, we've got quite some swimming to do. Say, how do you keep yourself occupied when you're traveling?" The princess asked Walt as she began to swim forward, over the Clamafornian buildings.

Walt then proceeded to swim after Francine after having put the map back into his bag. When she asked him how he kept himself occupied while traveling, he thought a bit. "Well, sometimes I like to sing a few songs, and if there's other people traveling with me, I like to tell them stories of my travels. Those are a few ways I like to keep myself occupied." He replied to Francine.

He continued to follow the mermaid princess, swimming at the same pace at her. "Have you ever been outside of Clamafornia?" He then curiously asked Francine.

Francine shook her head as they swam through Clamafornia. "No, I haven't. Dad never lets me leave the kingdom, even if it is for a ball in another kingdom, so this is gonna be my first time outside Clamafornia." She told Walt as she spared a glance at the buildings underneath her as they became less familiar the further they got to the edge of the kingdom.

"That's the same reason I wasn't allowed to do this on my own." Francine knew that if she hadn't made that fuss to her father, she wasn't allowed to go on this quest at all. She loved her father with all her heart, don't get her wrong, but his protective nature got under her skin immensely a lot of times. She didn't care that she was the only heir to the throne, as it was her father's kingdom. And Francine would rather be dead than be queen.

Walt nodded as he continued to follow after Francine. "Yeesh, you were never allowed to leave the kingdom, not even for a ball in another kingdom? It must get annoying to have such an overprotective father..." Walt remarked. Walt's own father wasn't that overprotective. In fact, he never looked back at him and his brothers after him and his mother divorced. Because of this, Walt has been longing for a paternal figure for quite some time now.

"Is there a reason why he is so overprotective towards you?" Walt then asked Francine as he continued to follow her.

"It's because I'm the only heir to the throne. If my dad keels over from the sickness and I keel over from something else, there's no one left to lead and the monarchy will collapse. I don't believe I'd be right to lead the kingdom though." Francine explained, not wanting to keep discussing that topic any longer since she knew that Walt was gonna keep asking her more and more questions about the matter, so she decided to change the topic.

"What about you, though? It sounds like you've got much more different parents compared to me." Francine then asked Walt. In the short time she's known the merman, all he's told her about himself was that he came from the Gold Coast of Australia and that there are contraptions called shellphones available in that neck of the ocean.

Walt sighed a bit once Francine asked him about his background. "I come from a pretty disaffectionate family. My parents divorced, and my older brothers constantly belittled me. So when I heard about vacant housing here in Clamafornia, I took the opportunity, left everything behind and came here to Clamafornia." He told the mermaid princess.
 
"Oh. I apologize for bringing it up then. Once my dad has been saved from his demise, I'm sure he'll make sure you'll have a good place to stay." That must've been why Walt swam to Clamafornia without bringing anything. Francine gave a small smile, hoping it didn't seem too pitiful.

"Clamafornia's a great place, and we welcome you with open arms. After this, most kingdoms will; You'll be a hero, Walt. One day, that family of yours is going to catch tide of what you've accomplished, and they'll realized just how big a mistake they made in turning against you." Francine kept her tone and expression gentle, inwardly praying to the divines that she didn't hit a nerve.

Walt smiled at the kind words Francine was giving him, and put an arm around the mermaid princess as they swam. "Thanks, Francine. I really appreciate the kind words. I'm sure Clamafornia will be a world of wonder compared to what I've left behind." He said in a happy tone, as he was happy to know that he would be regarded as a hero under the sea once this was all over. If his family back on the surface knew of his acts of heroism under the sea, they would definitely realize what a big mistake they made in mistreating him.

Francine subtlety leaned into Walt's touch, sending him a grin. "I'll make sure of that." She was glad her efforts worked, but she was happier than she expected. She felt all warm and fuzzy, so she relaxed into a comfortable silence.

After a bit of swimming, Francine took another look at the buildings below her. They were starting to become less bundled up and fancy compared to those in the heart of the kingdom. It wouldn't take too long for there to not be any buildings at all. "We've almost reached the exit of the kingdom." Francine remarked, already seeing where the last building sat, a huge stretch of sandy plains behind it.

Walt smiled some more. "That sounds nice." He replied to her as he continued to swim with Francine. When she told him they had almost left Clamafornia, he nodded. "Alright, that means it's almost time for the start of our adventure." He remarked. He was excited to see the underwater world of Planet Earth like he had never seen it before: As a merman.

"Are you as excited about this adventure as I am, Francine? I'm personally very excited to be going on an adventure in this neck of the underwater world." He said in a slightly excited tone. He also still had his arm around Francine, having not removed his arm from her body for a while now.

Francine gave him an affirmative hum. "Yeah. I've heard of a lot of places and a lot of fish, but actually seeing them is a whole new thing. Just imagine it: Gliding down the side of a drop off and straight through a school of fish. Then there could be a whale or a swordfish or just about anything. I love how unpredictable this'll be." Structure was an annoying necessity for a princess. Learn specific things at specific hours, see the same few people on heavily planned events, and never go anywhere new. Sure, it was safe, but it wasn't fun.

"What are you hoping to find out here? Aside from the Wonder Algae, I mean." Asides from the faint flush to her face, Francine didn't seem bothered by Walt's prolonged contact. It was actually rather comfortable, and she quite liked how warm he was.

Walt thought about it. "Well, I guess it'd be fun to do a little treasure hunting along the way. Back on the Gold Coast, I would often go out treasure hunting with my friends, and we'd often bring back quite some interesting items. One time, we brought back a pearl the size of a cannonball, and I kept it in my room ever since." He told Francine as they continued to swim through the ocean. Walt also felt comfortable holding his arm around Francine, as Francine was quite warm herself.

"Whoa, seriously? How big was the oyster?" Francine looked at Walt in wonder. To make that big of a pearl, it would have to be a whale of an oyster! She wondered if a whole person could fit inside an oyster like that. Maybe Walt tried it? He seemed adventurous enough to. And if the pearl was only one of his finds, Francine was curious to know of the rest. Were they all so impressive?

"Big enough for a merperson to use as a bed." Walt replied with a chuckle. "I actually slept inside that oyster that night, and it was surprisingly comfortable." He was really good at the merman act, and so far, it didn't seem to be raising any suspicion with Francine, which was a relief for Walt.


"Does your palace's treasury have any remarkable treasures? I'd love to see them once we get back from our journey." Walt asked Francine with a smile. If he were to settle down in Clamafornia once this journey was over, he'd love to live in the palace with Francine and her father and get to know the palace and its inhabitants better, since he highly doubted he could change back into a human.

"There's a few things in there that are interesting, but it's mostly just gold. My favorite's a diamond-encrusted golden lamp; I'm not sure what it was used for, but if it weren't so expensive, I'd have brought it to my room. Then there's a set of diamond and ruby jewelry made by Maris Lynne, which is pretty cool." Maris Lynne was one of those craftspeople that only grew famous long after death. She made about six full sets of jewelry, all of which had some sort of theme reflecting on what was, at the time, the modern world. Francine learned about the woman briefly when she was being taught about the various golden ages of Clamafornia.

Though, Francine wasn't entirely sure if Walt would be allowed to see those things. He'd be a hero, but would he be allowed into the royal treasury? Eh, she'd advocate for him if she had to. From what she knew of him, he wasn't a thief.

Walt smiled and nodded. "That sounds really nice. I'm sure there's a lot about Clamafornia that makes it a hot spot within this neck of the ocean." He replied to Francine. Although Walt didn't know yet, Clamafornia was the place where a lot of mermaid and merman celebrities in this neck of the ocean lived. They mostly lived in the Clamafornian Hills, Eel Air and other rich, affluent neighborhoods of Clamafornia.

It was probably needless to say, but once Walt had saved King Cameron's life, he'd most likely become a celebrity within the city himself. And once that had happened, who knows what kind of life would await Walt?
 
"I'm a little biased, but I say Clamafornia's more than just a hot spot." Francine went to go on a tangent, but caught herself. She wanted to make time pass, but she didn't want to focus on the place she was so excited to be out of. "But we can talk about Clamafornia all day when we get back. For now, let's focus on seeing what's out here and saving my dad." Francine told Walt as she gestured to the large sandy plains ahead of them, with occasionally some rocks covered in tiny fish living in the coral, but other than that, there wasn't really anything interesting to see outside of Clamfornia yet.

"I'm a little surprised nothing jumped out the second we got out here. I don't know why I expected it to be such a sudden difference, but this is basically Clamafornia without...Well, Clamafornia. It's a lot of nothing, but I remember reading about how anything can appear from the ocean wilderness." Francine put it together that way in an attempt to impress Walt, with her words being a narrative from a book she read where the heroes didn't see a whale until it had appeared right next to them which caused the party to be split in two and continue the plot from there. But regardless, Francine still figured there was a shred of truth to it, since the buildings of Clamafornia were difficult to see from certain distances. The current neck of the ocean wasn't deep enough for a whale to swim through, but the princess expected to see any kind of wildlife right now, whether it be a shark, a dolphin or whatever sea wildlife could be found around the oceans of the world.

Walt nodded. "I guess you're right, Francine. We can talk about Clamafornia once we're finished with the task at hand. For now, we should focus on saving your father and the world out here that you've been isolated from all your life." He agreed with the mermaid princess. Walt was honestly just as excited as Francine to venture out into the underwater world of Planet Earth, since he had never experienced swimming in the ocean like this before.

"Yeah, it's pretty open and empty out here compared to the hustle and bustle of the underwater cities, isn't it?" He replied to Francine's musings about the underwater world they were currently in. And Francine did manage to impress him, since he was unaware that she was talking about things from a fictional book.

"Indeed. I don't know whether this is eerie or peaceful, but it's still fascinating all the same. But it's also a bit too quiet for my tastes." Francine admitted, being used to the background sounds of the palace; The wake left by rushing servants, the tinkling jewelry of nobles, the quiet whispers from those that thought they were out of earshot...It just felt so strange to not have any of that out here.

"It makes me glad to have you with me." She intended to stop there, but quickly continued once she realized how it sounded. "Uh, companionship and all. Good to have a friend around." She put a light emphasis on friend, looking away from Walt to stare at the ocean ahead.

"That's understandable. When you're used to all kinds of sound surrounding you, this certainly is a jarring shift in tone." Walt nodded. When she mentioned to him she was glad to have him with her, he smiled, and he even kept smiling when she said it was as a friend. "Thanks, Francine. I'm also glad to have a friend around. My friends back on the Gold Coast turned their back on me once I announced I was gonna leave the Gold Coast to come here, so I'm glad I've got you right now, even though we haven't known each other for so long." He told her as he also stared at the ocean ahead, but still kept his big, muscular arm around Francine's neck.

Francine glanced up towards the surface, looking at the patterns of light entering the sea. She watched in silence for a moment before speaking to Walt again. "I'm not one to make promises very often, but you can count on me being by your side until I float upside down." Francine never liked to make promises since she was unsure if her future self could uphold them in the face of changing circumstances, but with Walt, she was confident that she could keep the promise she made to him; She would give him all the support and care he needed in her lifetime.

"And you know what? I'll show you what a real friend is like. Friends swim beside you no matter how strong a current you're facing, they don't turn away and take the easy route." Francine felt a little awkward with her phrasing. She spoke like some cliche protagonist, and she was pretty sure she got that phrase from one of those melodramatic educational plays.

Walt nodded at what Francine told her, even smiling a bit. "I'm glad to hear that, Francine. I'm glad there's at least one person in this neck of the ocean that I can count on when times get rough. And I can show you what a real friend is like as well. If you've got troubles, I've got them too. If you're feeling in the dumps, I'll comfort you. If you need support, I'm swimming right behind. Know that I'll be there for you just as much as you will be there for me." He told the mermaid princess, his words being spoken with genuine compassion. He was gonna be supporting Francine for the rest of his life if this was how he was gonna live out the rest of his life.
 
"That's great to hear. But don't let having the princess on your side go to your head, alright? I may look as delicate as a newborn seal, but I can be as fierce as a swordfish when needed." Francine sent Walt a teasing grin, causing the blond merman to laugh a bit. "But for real, I do appreciate that you're willing to lend me your support just as much as I'm willing to lend you mine." Francine then added as Walt smiled and nodded.

"Understood. Well, let's try and get to the Sea Caves of the Gulf of Mexico to try and get that sample of the first Wonder Algae before nightfall. Who knows what kind of danger could be out here at night?" The blond haired merman nodded as he continued swimming through the ocean with Francine, holding his big, muscular arm around her neck the whole time.

"Of course. That's what we've been doing this whole time, haven't we? We have been swimming for a while now...Come to think of it, there's something that hasn't come to mind until now: How deep do you think these caves will be? I've heard some nasty creatures can dwell in caves..." Francine hummed as she tapped the hilt of her sheathed blade as she considered the possibility of having to engage in combat once they reached the caves.

Walt thought about it. "I'm not sure. I haven't been to the Sea Caves of the Gulf of Mexico before. All I know is that it could probably be cold inside those caves. That's something my parents taught me when I was little. And the deeper you go into those caves, the colder it'll get. It's a shame I haven't really brought anything to protect myself against the cold, because it would really come in handy when we get to the caves." He said.

"I've got a winter cloak, but I only brought one. It's pretty big, so I guess we can use it like a shared blanket if we have to. It'll restrict mobility if we have to fight, though...What do you think we should do? I say we figure it out once we get there, that way we can see how hostile and how cold it is." Francine hummed. Unsheathing her blade underneath her thick winter coat wouldn't be the most convenient, but freezing her scales off didn't sound much better either...

"I agree, we'll figure it out once we get to the caves. For now, we'll just keep on swimming 'til we get there." Walt nodded in agreement with Francine's statement. "I just hope there aren't any other parties after the Wonder Algae who want to use them for other purposes. That would mean disaster for us." He then said.

Francine hadn't thought of such a thing before until Walt had just mentioned it. Contemplating the idea of someone possibly wanting her father dead by going after the Wonder Algae themselves, she spoke. "It's certainly an idea not off the table. I can't believe I hadn't thought of that before. If someone does want my dad dead, all they'd need to do is beat us to the Wonder Algae and taking them for themselves. Which means we'd have to be faster than them and not give anyone the chance of stopping us." The princess spoke with a determined expression.

Walt nodded in agreement. "Let's get to the Sea Caves of the Gulf of Mexico as fast as we can then." He replied before taking Francine's hand and began to speed swim, speeding off like a torpedo. Walt was impressed by the fact that he could swim this fast now that he was a merman, but he welcomed it, as it certainly made traveling around the ocean a lot easier.

Francine kept up, her tail swishing rapidly. For most of the journey, there wasn't much to see but water and the occasional fish. Eventually, however, they came across a sudden, steep drop in the ocean floor.

"Slow down for a second." Francine told Walt, pulling him to a stop as she came to a stop herself. She peered down the rocky wall of the drop off, admiring the intense blue of the ocean around them. "This should be the Sea Caves of the Gulf of Mexico. And if that's the case, there should be an entrance somewhere along this rocky wall. Can you check the map to make sure this is the right place?" She asked Walt.

She couldn't see far along the drop off, the deep blue consuming it like a thick fog. She marveled at the unknown, a slightly anxious giddiness swelling in her chest. Assuming this was the right spot, they were so close to the first of the Wonder Algae...One seventh of the way to saving her dad. Francine smiled, looking back up to the surface as she waited for Walt to check the map. The first rays of the sunset shone red against the surface, and she wondered if any of her dad was looking at it, too.

Walt was then pulled to a stop by Francine as he also peered down the rocky wall of the sudden, steep drop in the ocean floor. When the princess asked him to check the map, he nodded. "I will." He replied to her before pulling out the map from his bag and checking it. "Hmmmm...Yep, the Sea Caves of the Gulf of Mexico should be somewhere around these parts, according to the map." He told Francine. "We better start looking for an entrance around here." He added.
 
"Let's take a dive then." Francine nodded as she let go of Walt's hand, letting it slide down the rocky wall as she swam deeper. Scanning her hazel eyes for any sign of an entrance, it appeared all of a sudden. Halfway down the drop, there was a massive hole in the rocky wall, about the size of ten merfolk and could likely have a whale fit through it if it wished to. Inside the hole, a dark abyss stretched for miles, only being illuminated by a blue light in the distance. Assessing the situation, Francine figured that the first leg of the journey through the cave would be spent in darkness, and then the blue light would guide them the rest of the way.

"Ready when you are." Francine told Walt as she grabbed her rapier, holding it close to her body. Given that neither Walt or Francine knew what dangers were waiting for them inside the cave, the princess figured it would be better to have her blade at the ready in the case of a surprise attack.

Walt put the map back into his bag and began to follow Francine down into the depths. They soon came across the entrance to the caves. Walt was wondering what would await them inside this cave, apart from the Wonder Algae they were going to find in here. Hopefully they wouldn't run into any dangers within the cave, but just in case there would be danger inside the cave, the blond haired merman pulled out his trident and held it in his left hand.

"Alright, let's go." Walt nodded as he took the lead and swam into the caves.

Francine followed closely, careful not to stray out of an arm's reach of Walt so that they wouldn't be separated in the darkness. The cave water had an edge to it, tingling against her skin like a painless jellyfish sting. Impossibly, slight currents filled the cave. Every few feet the direction would change, never strong enough to take effort to pass but always enough to be noticed. The further the two moved, the more the water urged them deeper into the cave.

Also changing as they progressed was the distant light. Slight bits of pink were now visible in the blow glow, and it seemed much larger than Francine imagined. "What do you think that light is?" She strained her eyes, trying to examine it. Other than the fact it was stationary, she couldn't tell much more than the color.

Walt felt the currents tingling against his skin as well, but thanks to his new muscular exterior, it didn't appear to be bothering him all that much. He kept swimming through the caves, keeping Francine close to him so that they wouldn't be separated inside the dark caves. The slight currents of the water flowed through his blond locks of hair, causing them to wave in the water.

The blonde haired merman also proceeded to notice the distant light, and also strained his eyes as he tried to examine it. "I'm not sure. It could be something helpful, it could be something harmful, I'm not sure. We should proceed with caution though." He replied to Francine as he continued to keep the black haired princess close to him.

Francine nodded on instinct, but paused when she realized that Walt wouldn't be able to see it, "I guess time will tell." Francine looked away from the light for a moment, giving her eyes a break. It wouldn't be that much longer before they reached the light, anyway.

When it was just a few feet away, the light revealed glowing crystals embedded in the cave walls. There weren't many, each one about a foot or so away from the last. Tiny, brightly colored fish swarmed the crystals, leaving their shadows to dance across the walls. As Walt and Francine moved to enter the light, their scales took on a dim glow reminiscent of the crystals.

"Whoa..." Francine looked down at her tail and then at Walt's. If their tails were glowing, that meant there was more to these crystals than met the eye. Whatever was causing their tails to glow in the presence of these crystals, it fascinated Francine. Had she not been on a timed mission, she'd have stopped for a moment to try and pry a crystal off the wall.

As Walt swam closer to the light with Francine, he saw the glowing crystals, and then looked down at his tail and then at Francine's as they glowed dimly. "Whoa...This is incredible..." He muttered. If him and Francine weren't on a mission, he would've loved to take one of the crystals as a souvenir.

"Well, this is certainly something magical." He then remarked to Francine. "We shouldn't waste time floating around looking at these crystals though. We have to find that Wonder Algae." He then added as he held Francine's hand to keep her close to him as he swam off further into the caves with her.
 
As the two merteens continued to swim through the cave, the sights didn't change all that much for a while before they eventually arrived at a split path. The sight visually disturbed Francine, and she frowned before turning to Walt. "I've got a bad feeling about this. Sure, caves are known to have branching paths, but up until now, we've been able to travel through these caves perfectly fine. There must be a reason why the pattern broke, as if someone had intended for these caves to be designed this way."

The first path went left whereas the other one went straight while declining upwards. The left path was composed of a dimmer, dark blue material. It appeared to be another kind of crystal, but wasn't jutting out randomly and instead wrapped around the path. No fish were visible at all, but there was a small pile of fish bones scattered on the ground. Further back, it expanded into some sort of room.

The straight path was almost entirely blocked by a barricade of jagged pink crystals, but it could be seen that the path also expanded into a room just after the barrier. Francine hummed, thinking the situation through before speaking again. "I believe that the cave wouldn't remain standing if we were to smash the barricade, so using your trident to smash the barricade isn't an option...I can't help but wonder why it's like they want us to take the other path..."

"Looking at the two paths, my guess is there's a system of some sorts put in place to protect the Wonder Algae. Calling back to that conversation we had earlier about anyone potentially taking the Algae, it makes sense for this system to be here...If the Wonder Algae has been inside these caves for a long period of time, then there's got to be something in here keeping it safe from outsiders...I'm guessing that the left path has three possibilities: A trial, certain death, or both. You've got more experience here, so it's your call: Risk breaking the barrier or risk the path?" Francine asked Walt as she turned to him again after assessing the situation a bit more.

Walt proceeded to notice the split path, seeing that the straight path was almost completely barricaded by pink crystals, and the path to the left was darker and scattered with fish bones. When Francine asked him what they should do, he became a bit nervous. She expected him to be an experienced merman traveler, while in reality he wasn't. He didn't show his nervousness to Francine, however, and began thinking about it.

"I saw we risk the path. I don't trust the cave would stay standing if we break that barrier either." He told Francine.

"Very well. Let's go." Francine nodded as Walt nodded back and the blond haired merman took the lead. Francine held her rapier at the ready while Walt did the same with his trident. Walt then began swimming down the blue path, with Francine slowing until Walt was just in front of her. Once he was, Francine proceeded to copy his pace.

The room it opened into was utterly massive, so much so that it felt impossible for it to fit underneath the drop off. Large fish, long and decorated with odd looking spikes, swarmed around a singular pink stalactite in the center of the roof. All the way beneath it, a thin, round platform of pink crystal blocked off a crater in the floor. There was something underneath it, but it wasn't discernible without getting closer.

One of the fish seemed to have noticed the duo, its golden eyes locking onto them and its pace around the stalactite slowing.

Walt looked up and saw the pink stalactite hanging from the ceiling, as well as the spiked fish swarming it. Walt raised an eyebrow at this. "These fish kinda give me the creeps..." The blond haired merman remarked as he looked at them. He had a bad feeling about these fish, especially with one of them noticing him and Francine and its pace around the stalactite slowing.

A second fish turned at Walt's voice, a bizarre rumble sounding from it as it slowed its pace, copying the other fish. Francine shuddered, speaking in a whisper. "Agreed, I don't like how they're watching us." She took another look around the room, hoping to find some small crevasse leading to a hidden room. There was nothing.

"I don't think we've got many options. I think we could maybe try to move the platform? It doesn't look that heavy, but..." Francine bit her lip, looking between the fish and the platform. "I don't know if we can get there without a fight." There was a fair vertical distance between the fish and the platform, but given their current reactions, she doubted it would be enough for them to stay passive. Then again, it was possible the fish were just guarding their stalactite and didn't care about the platform...Maybe, with a slow enough pace and a cautious approach, they could reach the platform without setting them off.
 
Walt looked around the room as well, trying to find a small crevasse to a hidden room, but didn't find anything. When Francine suggested moving the platform, he thought about it. "It's worth a shot, although I'm still concerned about what those fish will do if we get close to them." He replied to the mermaid princess. If the fish were going to attack him and Francine, he'd hope that he wouldn't get seriously injured while doing so, because he didn't want to die on his undersea adventure, especially not with King Cameron's life on the line.

"Alright, let's just try and take it slow. That should hopefully prevent these fish from attacking us." Francine suggested. She wasn't a coward in any sense of the word, but the threat felt very real now that it was right in front of her. "If we watch the fish, I'm sure they'll show us if they're getting more hostile So, let's get on with it. Your lead." She didn't want to make the first move, which she mentally excused due to Walt being visibly stronger than her as well as more experienced.

Honestly, it was the anxiety of anticipation that got to her. Going head first into battle was one thing, but waiting for an ambush that may or may not happen is another.

"Alright then...Stay close to me, and we'll be alright." Walt nodded to Francine as he took the lead. He was praying to the gods of the aquatic world he had become a part of that the fish wouldn't attack them once they got close. The blond haired merman then slowly began swimming towards the platform, holding his trident at the ready just in case.

Hopefully they would get out of this situation without any scratches or serious injuries.

After getting about a third of the way, another fish noticed them. Two thirds of the way, all of the remaining fish caught on to what their allies were doing, staring intently at Walt and Francine. There was no motion to attack, however, and Francine let out a shaky breath upon reaching the platform.

She peered down, looking through the thin material to see what wasn't visible from the entrance. Tinted pink through the crystal, some sort of creature was curled up. It bore jagged, black scales with shards of glowing crystal caught on some of the edges, its body long and narrow. It had an excessive amount of long, flowing fins, which idly waved and pressed against the roof of its makeshift cage. On its face, it appeared to have three eyes, one on either side and one on its forehead, which were all tightly closed in a deep sleep.

"Oh, gods..." Francine tore her gaze from the beast, looking around the room in sudden horror. "Walt, this is an arena." Her voice rose in alarm, enticing a grumbling hiss from one of the circling fish. It broke from its path in an instant, charging forwards. It was time to fight!

Walt was rather nervous as all the fish began staring at them, but when him and Francine reached the platform, he also looked through the thin material, seeing a large sea monster lying in a makeshift cage. "Oh, Neptune..." Walt gulped when Francine told him that they were inside an arena. When the fish attacked, he quickly trusted his trident forward, stabbing a bunch of hostile fish with it.

"If we survive this and make it out with the Wonder Algae alive, I'm never coming back to this place again." Walt remarked as he fought the fish.

Violet blood clouded the water at Walt's strike, but the one directly struck seemed severely wounded. It thrashed furiously in an effort to lay another hit, but was too wounded to swim.

The swarm responded to the attack in an instant, splitting into two smaller swarms. Some five fish targeted Walt, swimming in large, rapid circles around him and attacking one at a time. The remaining four aimed for Francine, the circle a little tighter to make up for the lacking member.

Francine hissed in pain as one of them slammed into her side, swinging her blade at it with all her force. It was injured, but pulled itself away from her rapier and continued circling like nothing happened. With their durability and lack of pain recognition, she doubted that a head to head would turn out well. There was one advantage they had, though; In an arena trial that quite obviously has a boss, the little grunts can only be but so powerful. There must be something specific meant to help take them out, but what? Under the stress and pain of combat, Francine's mind was too frenzied to figure it out.

A room, mostly empty. A big stalactite, hanging directly over the battle. A platform with a monster beneath it. There was a purpose to everything in the room, there had to be.

Walt continued to pierce the fish with his tridents, but yelped in pain when one of the fish slammed into his chest before it met its demise from being impaled by the blond haired merman's trident. It's a good thing that these tiny fish grunts were easy, but Walt feared that in an arena like this, there would be worse to come. The blond haired merman placed his right hand over the spot where the fish struck him in the chest, but he pushed on.

Like Francine, Walt had the feeling there was a purpose for everything that was inside this room. Was it perhaps a trial to deem him and Francine worthy of collecting the first Wonder Algae? Or was it a death trap to get them killed? As the blond haired merman's mind was racing with thoughts as to what the purpose for everything in the room was, he continued fighting the attacking sea creatures.
 
Unaware of Walt being injured, Francine ducked out of the way of a fish attacking her. Due to its momentum, the fish slammed into the platform, cracking it. The creature inside shifted at the cracking of its crystal cage, but it didn't shatter. Francine quickly skewered the fish while it was still stunned from the collision, resuming the fight. She still had about three fish left to fight, while Walt had about four fish left to fight, with three of them currently being wounded.

The cracked crystal gleamed pink, just as the stalactite above did. They were definitely made from the same material, so a direct hit from one of those fish should be able to send the stalactite crashing down. With it being over both the battle and the sleeping monster, the stalactite would certainly be effective in dealing with the monster.

Walt continued to deal with the remaining fish that attacked him, thrusting his trident towards them in an attempt to impale them as he dealt with the fish on his end, he watched as one of the fish on Francine's end slammed into the crystal platform and it cracked. He saw the creature inside the platform shift, and the blond haired merman figured that once the creature was freed from its crystal prison, that wouldn't be good, so they had to deal with all these fish quickly.
Francine was growing out of breath from the constant dodging of the attacking fish, the locating of an attack window being difficult when it took half of the princess' focus to keep track of the enemies. The thought of fighting something worse after finally getting through the fish wasn't appealing, and her confidence in passing the arena was starting to drop. Against all odds though, Francine didn't back down, for as long as she was breathing, she would keep fighting; For her own life, for Walt's life and for her father's.

Walt was also growing tired of constantly fighting and dodging the fish, and while he was focusing his attention on the attacking fish, he also looked down at the platform with the monster inside. He did not want to fight this monster knowing that he's wasted all his energy trying to keep these fish off his back. But then, an idea struck the blond haired merman's mind. He looked at the attacking fish, then at the large stalactite on the ceiling, and smirked.

Walt then swam up towards the stalactite and managed to lure one of the fish towards it. As the fish prepared to charge into Walt, the blond haired merman quickly dove to the right, and the fish slammed into the stalactite. The sheer force of the fish's charge caused the stalactite to crack and drop down from the ceiling. Walt quickly dove down to get Francine out of the way as the stalactite crashed down into the platform, killing the monster inside.

The crystal shattered, scattering pink fragments across the floor. The surviving fish seemed to freeze up, the gold of their eyes dimming to black. They scattered, hiding in the far reaches of the room. The destruction of the stalactite or the death of the beast must have caused them to flee, so they must have been connected to either of the two one way or another.

Francine gasped in shock at Walt's plan, and she slowly but surely made her way over to the platform, inspecting the beast to make sure it was dead. Noticing the beast wasn't breathing, she let out a shocked laugh as she turned to Walt. "Well, that's one way to get the job done, alright." After a moment of silence and the fading of the adrenaline, she spoke once more. "Are you okay? Are you feeling well enough to continue on?" The wound she had sustained from the battle hurt, and it was sure to leave a bruise, but it wasn't anything too serious.

Walt took a moment to catch his breath, and also inspected the creature to make sure it was dead. When he concluded it was dead, he turned to Francine, letting out a shocked chuckle himself. "When you were gifted with the ability of brains, you oughta put them to good use." He told her.

When she asked him how he was feeling, he smiled. "I think I'm good to push on, yeah." He replied to her. The wound on his chest still ached and it would certainly leave a bruise, but it didn't appear to bother him that much.

"Okay. I'm sure it shouldn't take us much longer to get to the Wonder Algae, so let's get a move on." Francine nodded as she took the lead, swimming below the shattered platform while making sure not to scratch herself on the shattered glass. She and Walt soon found herself going through a tunnel leading down and sideways, being much narrower than the rest of the caves. Francine entered it cautiously, examining the rocky walls. They weren't any crystals, leaving the passage to be lit only by its entrance. A short distance ahead, a glow could be seen coming from somewhere upwards, which was most likely where the exit was located.

"I wonder if the rest of the Wonder Algae will be like this...Gods, I hope the trial's a one-off thing." She muttered, looking back at Walt. There wasn't much room for the two of them, but they could fit side-by-side at a bit of a squish.

Walt nodded as he began to follow Francine into the tunnel, finding it was indeed much narrower than the rest of the paths in the cave, but he pushed on regardless. He then proceeded to see the glow coming from higher up. Like Francine, Walt assumed that this was the tunnel exit.

"I hope the rest of the Wonder Algae will be easier to find as well, because this trial thing is tiring, to say the least." Walt muttered as well as he looked at Francine. Due to the limited room in the tunnel, he swam right next to Francine. He didn't mind, as he felt at peace around her.

Upon reaching the end of the tunnel, Francine took a peek through the exit. The room it led to matched the earlier portion of the cave, the one with blue and pink crystals and stone walls. At the very top of the cave, there was a small section of air illuminated by an especially bright crystal. Something floated atop the water there.

Francine's eyes widened as she realized the situation. "Walt, I think we've made it. We've made it to the first of the Wonder Algae. The first leg of our journey has been completed." She told Walt with a mix disbelief and relief. There wasn't another fight sprung on them at the last moment, there wasn't an empty cave to mock their efforts. They had actually done it.

Walt's eyes widened at Francine's words. "Are you sure we've found the first Wonder Algae? There isn't another fight waiting to happen? No empty cave just to mock us? We've actually found it?" The blond haired merman asked as his heart was pounding in his chest. They had actually found the first Wonder Algae, the first key to saving King Cameron's life.
 
Francine fully entered the room, her gaze locked on the algae as though it'd disappear the moment she looked away. "I couldn't be more sure. Want to do the honors?" Francine gestured loosely towards the algae. She didn't personally care who collected the sample so long as it was collected, so she figured she may as well give Walt the opportunity. It wasn't exactly something he'd get many chances to do, after all.

Walt followed Francine into the room, his already large blue eyes widening at the sight of the first Wonder Algae. It was red in color, and it glowed brightly. When Francine allowed him to collect a sample of the first Wonder Algae, he nodded to the black haired mermaid princess. "Alright, I'll take care of it." The blond haired merman replied as he plucked a piece of the Wonder Algae before handing it to Francine.

"Here. I think we'd best put this away in a medicine case, since it's pretty much a medicine." Walt then remarked.

Francine nodded, delicately holding the sample with one hand while her other hand fished through her bag for her medicine case. Since most of the cures she'd been given were liquid or gel, there was a lot of free space between bottles. She set the glowing algae in one of those gaps and returned the case to her bag.

"There we go. Let's get out of here, yeah?" Francine eyed the cave for an exit, but it seemed they'd have to go back the way they came. At least they could move faster going out since they wouldn't have to keep an eye out for danger or the Wonder Algae.

Walt nodded to Francine. "Yeah, let's get out of here now. I don't want to spend a minute longer than I have to in this cave." The blond haired merman spoke as he took the black haired mermaid princess' hand and swam out of the caves with her. Once they left the caves, the two of them would notice the sun was starting to set.

"Looks like it's getting dark...We'll have to find a place to sleep for the night soon." Walt then remarked.

"What kind of place should we be looking for?" Francine assumed Walt knew the ins and outs of traveling, so she figured he'd know what was safe and what wasn't.

Her first guess would be to find a smaller cave, but it might be difficult finding one without anything living in it. She read a story where the characters burrowed under the sand, but then they got in trouble with an octopus...Yeah, she'd trust Walt's judgment and give her own thoughts from there. Worst comes to worst, they may have to sleep in shifts to ensure safety.

Walt thought about it. He then proceeded to pull the map out of his bag and looked on it. "Alright, there's a city called La Sirena about 10 miles from here. If we swim fast, we might make it there by the time the sun has set." The blond haired merman said as he showed the place on the map to Francine, pointing at a city called La Sirena. "We might be able to find a tavern or a hotel or something like that over there." He added.

"Ten miles by nightfall? I wouldn't favor the odds, but we can try. Which direction is it?" With all the traveling and fighting the journey already called for, Francine doubted they'd be able to make it that far without rest. Not like she'd give up or turn it down, though. She wouldn't let herself hold the two of them back.

And hey, if they made it to a city, maybe they'd be able to get hot food there. It'd make their rations last a day longer and it was always nice to have fresh food.
 
"According to the map, it's 10 miles southwest from here." Walt told her. "If we speedswim, I'm sure we can make it. You can speedswim, right?" He asked Francine. He just assumed that every merperson, himself included had the ability to speedswim. It would be awkward for Walt having to hold Francine's hand every time he was gonna speedswim. The blond haired merman himself didn't mind this, as he enjoyed holding hands with Francine because of how soft her hands were, but he wasn't sure if the princess herself liked having to hold the blond haired merman's hand every time they were gonna speedswim.

"Of course I can; I'm a mermaid, am I not? I was just thinking we might get exhausted." Francine swished her tail, shrugging lightly. "But I don't know what I'm talking about, I've never traveled before. I'll trust your word on this."

"Like always, you take the lead. You don't have to worry about me falling behind, I'm quick." Francine was faster than the average merfolk due to her royal blood, but her endurance was lower. Such is the result of being stuck inside a palace.

Walt nodded at that. "Alright. Just asking to make sure." He replied to her before speeding off like a torpedo, towards La Sirena. He was glad Francine could speedswim as well. That would save him the trouble of having to hold the princess' hand all the time while speedswimming. He sometimes looked back at Francine to see if she was doing alright, but mostly looked forward for the biggest part.

As they were swimming towards La Sirena, Walt realized something: He was gonna be sleeping underwater tonight. He had never slept underwater before, especially not like this. He was gonna have to get used to this if he was gonna be living the rest of his life as a merman, because he once again figured he couldn't change back to his human form.

Instead of looking forwards like Walt, Francine spent her time looking down and to the sides, searching for any interesting wildlife on the route to La Sirena. She mostly ensured her position behind Walt off of the sound of his tail swishing in the water, but still looked up every now and then to make sure she was still behind him.

It was an exhilarating feeling, darting through the water. She'd speedswam before, of course, but there was something different about doing it in the open ocean. She wondered if the fish felt the same way as they swam about in their little groups.

...Groups? Maybe that was what made it fun. Back at the palace, she only speedswam by herself. It had always been a chore, even when she chose to do it for the sake of training. With Walt, even though she hardly even looked at the blond, she felt more at ease...Not that she'd ever tell him that.

After speedswimming for a while, Walt and Francine reached La Sirena by the time sun had set. The lamp posts in the Mexican merfolk city turned on, lighting the streets. Walt slowed down to a stop and once Francine had done the same, he smiled at the mermaid princess. "Well, looks like we made it: La Sirena. Should we go look for a tavern or a hotel right away?" He asked her.

"Yeah, that way we can drop our stuff off before doing anything else. Added bonus, we won't have to worry about finding somewhere to stay when we're dead tired." Francine took a few deep breathes to slow her breathing from the speedswim, looking around the city.

"Actually, I think a tavern is all we need. Those sell food, don't they? So we can eat and sleep at one stop." As she spoke, she took her crown from her head and put it in her bag. It was best not to be seen as a royal in a foreign city.

Walt nodded to Francine. "Let's go find a tavern then." He nodded as he put his muscular arm around Francine and the two of them swam off into the city to try and find a tavern. As they swam, Walt looked around at the other mermaids and mermen. A ton of teenage merboys were giving Francine dreamy stares. The blond haired merman felt jealousy bubbling inside him and held Francine closer to him.
 
Francine sent Walt a strange look. She was fully aware of the stares in her direction, but she was used to being in the public's eye. Any romantic intent was lost on her, as she instead took it for being crown-less not hiding who she was.

"You don't have to worry, I'm fine." She said quietly to prevent eavesdroppers from hearing. She didn't pull away, however, and instead spoke again at her normal volume. "This city's gorgeous, don't you think? It's nothing like home."

Walt gave Francine a nod and loosened his hold on the mermaid princess for a bit. When she asked him about the city, he smiled and nodded. "Agreed, this city's gorgeous. I've always wanted to visit Mexico, and now I'm finally getting the chance to do so." He replied to her. "It's probably your first time being this far from home outside of American waters, isn't it?" He then asked Francine.

Francine gave an affirmative hum. "It is, though I recognize lands more by kingdoms than the landmasses. It's not exactly like I'll ever visit one of those, you get me?" She asked, but had no intention of her question being answered. "Speaking of, what kingdoms have you been to so far? Are they all as different as this one?"

Walt became a bit nervous when she asked him that question, but he didn't show it. He then thought about how to respond to the question. "Well, I've been to the Zulu Zeal Kingdom near Southeast Africa, White Celtic near Ireland, Coralwall near the Southwest Coast of the United Kingdom, and the list goes on. They've all been pretty different with all their different cultures and whatnot. Supposedly they picked up a thing or two from the culture of the "legged folk."" He then replied to Francine.

Francine tilted her head, trying to come up with mental images of the kingdoms. It didn't really work, but it kept her distracted enough to not catch Walt's bluff. "Huh. I expected everyone to avoid them...How do they learn from the legged folk without being seen? I'll have to find something similar for Clamafornia. We can't be falling behind, and if we can learn their technology...Well, the possibilities seem endless." She looked down at the sand, her eyes squinting a bit in thought. Maybe they could mimic the diving ships, the ones that fired weapons at astonishing speeds and had unbreakable shells. There would be some tweaks so it could be filled with water, but it could make traveling risky waters infinitely safer...

Francine looked up again, lightly shaking her head. "But I'll figure that out with dad, I won't bore you with it. What I will say is that it's incredible you've been to so many kingdoms. I knew you traveled, but that's more than I'd ever guess."

"Well, that's what happens when you travel all the way from the Gold Coast of Australia to the East Coast of the United States: You end up seeing quite a few cultures and kingdoms along the way." Walt replied to Francine with a chuckle as he continued to hold his muscular arm around the princess. "And from what the people in those kingdoms told me, they were able to learn about the culture of the legged folk by watching them from a distance without being seen. They've been doing that for years now, they also told me." He added.

The blond haired merman then proceeded to notice a tavern. "Hey, that looks like a tavern! Let's head in there!" He told the black haired mermaid.

"Sounds like a plan." Francine said, shifting her course to go towards the building.

Once inside, she approached the tavernkeeper with a polite smile. "Good afternoon, can I ask how much would cost to rent two rooms for the night?" As she talked, she looked around the place. There was something special about the places common folk gathered to a princess such as herself, but she just couldn't quite put her finger on what it was exactly.

The tavernkeeper gave Francine a smile as she approached. "Rooms cost 25 Gold Coins per night and include dinner and breakfast." He informed the black haired mermaid as Walt swam up next to Francine.

"That's cheap." Walt told him with a smile. "We'd like to hire two rooms for the night then." He added. The blond haired merman still had to get used to the fact that he was going to be sleeping underwater for the night, but if he was going to be living the rest of his life as a merman, that's something he was probably going to get used to soon enough.

Francine nodded in affirmation, gathering the needed payment from her bag, "We're not too picky on which rooms we get, but can I ask that they're next to each other?" She made the request out of principal. After all, Walt was supposedly acting as her guard, so it made sense to stay close.

Otherwise, she found herself eager to stay the night in a tavern. She doubted the beds would be as comfortable as her one in the palace, but it was a new experience.

The tavernkeeper nodded as he took the payment from Francine. "Certainly, young miss. You'll get Room 13 and your companion over here will get Room 14." He told the black haired mermaid as he handed her the keys to Room 13 and handed Walt the keys to Room 14.

"Alright, thank you very much, sir. Can I ask when dinner will be served?" Walt then asked the tavernkeeper curiously.

"It will be served at 6:30 PM." The tavernkeeper replied.

Walt nodded again. "That should give us more than enough time to explore the city for a bit, right?" He asked Francine as he looked over to her.
 
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