The Heroes of Aeseganora: Part 1 - The Oca-Tree

Escaping The Slaves - Part II

The crew remembered the conversation they had back at the Oca-Tree, the one where they wondered why Ollum chose them all for their mission, the one which made them all wonder if he was spying on them.

They needed to ask him.

"So," Barnacles began to ask the question. "How did you know about us before you chose us for this mission? How did you know that we were the Heroes' descendants?"

"Well," Ollum took a deep breath. "It wasn't me who initially thought of you. It was my father - he was the king of Aeseganora before I took the position."

The crew looked at each other, wondering what he was talking about.

Ollum carried on. "When I found the oracle of the Heroes of Aeseganora in the tome, my father told me that he knew of their descendants - yourselves - from a friend of his from the ocean. He explained how you mirrored at lot of your ancestors' qualities, and, being the overly curious person that I am, I wanted to see you all in action to make sure of that."

The Octonauts suddenly remembered the memories of their adventures that they saw at the Oca-Tree.

"So you were watching us on all our adventures?" Inkling asked.

"Yes," Ollum admitted. "You were all resourceful, brave, and clever, just like the Heroes of Aeseganora. I couldn't have hoped for more."

No one said anything.

"Are you all angry with me?" Ollum eventually asked. "Now you know that I practically spied on you?"

"No, we're not," Shellington replied. "I mean, it is a bit of a shock, but we're glad we were chosen for this mission."

"Aye!" Kwazii said with a laugh. "It has certainly been quite a lot of fun!"

He suddenly thought more about what other worlds there were in Planet Earth.

"So," the cat begun. "What other worlds are there, yer Majesty?"

Just as Ollum opened his mouth to answer that question, there was a sudden thundering of footsteps, and they turned just as all of the other Slaves appeared through the mist, looking ready for a fight.

The Octonauts jolted to their feet before they realised that they weren't looking to attack them; they were looking for Brone. They were on their side.

"Where did they go?" Patricia pushed some aside and came to the front of the mob. "Did we miss the whole thing?"

None of them could help but smile in relief at a friendly, familiar face.

"It wasn't really much of a fight, actually," Barnacles grinned. "It was just conjuring up a portal to another world within Earth."

"Awww, I was looking forward to a bit of a riot," Patricia said, turning back to her makeshift army. "They're all gone, everyone. You can all relax."

There were groans and boos of disappointment as the Slaves put their weapons away. Patricia turned back around to face the crew and the king. "So, what did happen here, your Majesty?"

****************

"We're so sorry about your Octopod," One Slave said. "We'll do all we can to try and replace it."

"We'll return all of the stolen magic as well," Patricia promised. They were in the Slaves' dining room, drinking kelp juice so thick it was practically sauce. "It turns out that there is more than we knew about - it's hidden everywhere, except for where it needs to be."

"So, what happened?" Ollum asked, munching on one of the Penguin Chips. "What made the Slaves want to steal magic?"

Patricia shrugged. "We used to have a different High Lord of All Slaves. Then about six years ago, Brone came along and took the spotlight. After that, there are many rumours about how it all happened, and no-one knows. All we know is that the Slaves had changed. The Class system went from a measure of achievement to a way of controlling who knew what secrets. Only people Brone liked got to be Upper Class."

"Wow," Kwazii said. "He seems more like a scurvy scallywag than we thought. Why was that?"

"Who knows?" Patricia replied. "No one ever had the backbone to ask. It doesn't look as if we'll ever know for certain what happened to make him the way he was, given his current location."

Ollum put his cup of juice down onto the table and smiled. "Well, I think we can all agree that the Octonauts have certainly excelled themselves here in Aeseganora: their gifts just keep on giving."

The Slaves nodded and murmured in agreement.

"I also think we can all be confident that everything is going to be OK," Patricia spoke up. "We're going to do something about this crisis. Even if it's to change the way we live, so be it. Nothing's more important than this. This is our home."

She looked to the Octonauts, who all of a sudden seemed exhausted.

"Thank you, Captain Barnacles and your crew," she said, "For coming to help us save our world. Come here!"

She held her arms out, and they all had a group hug.

There was now only one more thing for the Octonauts to do...