Blamed

Chapter 12 - Water Is A Pain

We would give Triton a few days to notice his trident was gone, and panic restlessly about it, before Carlos and I turn up outside his palace to return it.

This entire plan rides on the hope that Triton will be too worried to say anything to the other rulers of the Auradonian kingdoms, in fear of appearing as weak.
If he does, we will have the entirity of Auradon on our backs.

We will just have to hope that be doesn't do that.

Problems seem much bigger and more important when they're staring you in the face. At the moment, I have a whole load of 'Jay can't breathe underwater' freaking me out.

During our first two years of Auradon prep, the trident was kept in the museum along with the magic wand and my mother's spinning wheel. Unfortunately, when Uma destroyed Cotillion last year, she swam back to the mainland and almost made off with the most powerful object of the seas.
Because of this, the trident was restored, and returned to its original owner.

Just another way that Uma has managed to scuff up my plans, and she's not even here.

So because the trident was returned to Triton, it is now at the bottom of the ocean.
A place where we will definitely drown.
And there's unfortunately no such thing as Gillyweed.

That's a problem? No kidding.

An hour later, I was still flicking through my spellbook, looking for anything, anything at all that could possibly help us with our underwater problem.

Jay and Carlos were hunched over one of Jay's (stolen) computers, looking at a thing called 'Google'. It's essentially a magic service where you ask it for things and it tells you about it. I long for the day I learn this sorcery.

I was just thinking about grabbing another mug of coffee, the vile stuff, when I heard Carlos yell at the top of his voice.
Naturally, I thought something was wrong, and responded by dropping the mug and sprinting over to the table.

Both boys looked up at me, with a sparkle in their eyes, yet a confused expression on their faces.

"Mal!" said Jay, "you broke another mug!"
Ignoring him, I turned to Carlos. "What's wrong?! I heard you yell."
"Not what's wrong, what's right!" his voice went up an octave.
He gave me a gigantic cheesy grin, before spinning the computer around and showing me the screen.

I saw a small, round crystal, a cream color, light shining off its surface. Despite the picture being on a plain white background, colour danced across its face, shimmering like a prism of beauty and light.
Somehow, I knew I'd seen it before.

The Shell of Survival was crafted from the hide of the first sea turtle, and provides breath underwater to any who wear it.

I looked back up at Carlos; at the extatic look on his face, and pointed out the very obvious problem with this plan.

"Carlos. This shell is underwater too. How do you plan we get it?"
He frowned, looking back at the screen, concentrating while his fingers whizz across the keys, continuing to dig up information on this ancient lost artifact.
He span the computer back around end I read the screen.

Centuries ago, it was lost to the sea, and hasn't been seen since.
However, legend has it that when the worthy step to the bed of an enchanted body of water, the spirit of the very same turtle who birthed the shell shall appear and gift the shell to he who needs it most.

I raised an eyebrow.
Enchanted body of water.
What enchanted body of water?

A memory flickered in the back of my mind, something I hadn't reminisced in a long time.
It was too painful too.

My first date. With Ben.
We sat there, in the sun, eating strawberries and laughing about each other's ridiculous names.

Another memory flashed before my eyes, this time the image of when my friends dumped me in the enchanted lake, to get rid of that stupid love spell.
Then my second date with Ben - or rather, Holly's first with him.

All of these memories had something in common. Something I was missing.

While I was deep in thought, I didn't notice both boys were staring at me as if I had gone insane.
I blinked.
"What?"
"Nothing," mumbled Carlos, and Jay rolled his eyes. "He wants to know what in Auradon that was, and to be honest, so do I."
"It was nothing," I told them. "Just thinking."

"About what? About where we're gonna get an enchanted body of water? It's not like there's just a magic lake that we just happen to know about."
I almost smacked myself. How stupid can I get?

"Of course!" shouted Carlos, again.
"The enchanted lake!" we said at the same time.
"The what-now?"
We both looked at Jay. He didn't say anything else.

"When do we go? Now?" I asked Carlos, leaning forward.
"Wha- now?!" he spluttered.
I nodded, getting impatient.
"Well, okay," he sighed. "Can you get the stuff?"
"I can," I took a moment to look into his chocolate eyes, before jogging upstairs to grab what we needed.

Enchanted Lake?
Here we come.

End of chapter.

Are they going to get the shell?

I know it's ironic, naming it 'shell' when it's made of hide.

Yes, I know that I haven't updated in a month - it's been a pretty hectic month. I've been sick, and it's been my birthday, and it's exam period. Whoopee.

The next chapter is on its way.