A few days later Puplantis was returning to its former glory. Every day that passed, more and more buildings were almost completely repaired.
It was morning and Moby was swimming to the castle where Coral was still in dreamland.
While swimming he passed in front of many Merpups who were working on the repair of a wing of the castle, intrigued to approach and noticed that that part of the castle was the one in which the famous seashell of Puplantis was kept but observing better, it was missing from its pedestal.
Moby, panicking, immediately asked the Merpup who was working where the seashell was.
"Excuse me, you know where is the seashell?"
"Unfortunately when we cleared this area of debris the seashell was missing, it is a miracle that we were able to get back the electricity with old generators." A worker Merpup said.
"Are you sure you didn't see someone taking it away the days after the attack?"
"No, sorry Moby."
"Don't worry, anyway thanks for your information." He said leaving towards Coral.
On his way to the back entrance of the castle, Moby met the Merpup who was right for him.
"Hey you," Moby said calling a Merpup in a police uniform.
"Me?" The Merpup said.
"Yes, you are the chief of the police, right?"
"Yes Moby, how can I help you?"
"I wanted to ask you a question. Do you know anything about the disappearance of the seashell?" Moby said going towards the Merpup, making it retreat.
"N-No Moby, now please stop to intimidate me." He said scared of what Moby might do to him.
"If you don't know anything about the disappearance of the seashell, order your agents to start looking for it, now!" Moby ordered.
"Y-Yes Moby." The Merpup said before to run away in search of his agents.
Moby, satisfied with Merpup's reaction, started swimming again. He didn't trust no one about the seashell's disappearance, because he knew it could have been anyone.
Shortly afterward the Merpup entered through the back entrance and as he entered he greeted the guards who controlled the door.
Moby headed directly to Coral's room. Once he arrived he noticed that the door was not completely closed so he decided to open the door just enough to see Coral without being discovered.
When he put his head in the crack of the door he could see Coral sleeping. At first, Moby had no reaction but simply stared at her but then his heart started beating faster and he started to blush because Coral was the most beautiful puppy he had ever seen.
Although he didn't know it yet, he was slowly but surely falling in love with her.
After Moby's heart reacted, he stood there staring at her, paralyzed by her beauty. What he loved about her was her lively but also understanding character, her laughter, her eyes and her soft ears.
Moby did not know if Coral reciprocated that beautiful feeling, after all, he had been mean to her until the day before the attack on Puplantis. He, however, did not lose heart and promised himself to tell her one of those days.
But then Coral moved. Moby, scared to death by her possible reaction, closed the door and walked away so as not to arouse suspicion.
Soon after, Coral came out of his room yawning and passed Moby, greeting, not fully realizing it was him. Then she turned, and looked at the Merpup with surprised eyes.
"Moby?" She said surprised.
"Good morning Coral, how you have slept?"
"Good. But what are you doing here?"
"I have come to make sure that the queen of Puplantis does not get lost within the walls of this castle." Moby's joke did not please Coral who looked at him with a strange look. "Okay, I admit that came out badly. I came here because you have to help me find the Puplantis seashell."
"What's wrong with Puplantis' seashell?"
"It disappeared into thin air, I spoke with the Merpups who were repairing that part of the castle but they did not see anything. Not even the Chief of Police knew anything about it."
"This is serious, without the seashell, Puplantis can not have the energy needed to run the buildings and also the Merpups will not have their colored pearls." She said worried.
"Don't worry, I and you will find it," Moby said
"Okay, let's start the research," Coral said swimming towards the exit.
"Alright- wait for me!"
Once Moby reached Coral, the two set off in search of the seashell starting right where it was supposed to be.
"Are you sure that we will find traces? As far as I know, there is only debris and dust." Moby said.
"I don't know if we'll find anything, but we have to try," Coral said entering the damaged part of the castle.
What remained in that part of the castle were stone columns that supported the entrance. Upon entering, Coral and Moby could see that there was also a circular room with badly damaged walls and a destroyed roof.
"I remembered this room differently from the last time I walked in. It was much more illuminated, there were many white pearls, some statues, and there was still the roof, the walls and the seashell." Moby said.
"Yes, it breaks my heart to know that all this has been lost forever," Coral said trying to join two pieces of stone.
Moby noticed that Coral was getting sad and decided to comfort her. He put his paw on her shoulder and looked into her eyes with a warm smile.
"Don't worry Coral, together we will be able to rebuild everything and we will do it better than before," Moby said.
"Thank you Moby, you always know when to cheer me up."
"Okay, now let's start looking for traces that lead us to the seashell." Moby immediately began to look for traces that could be traced back to a seashell.
Coral also started looking for possible traces, but it was not easy to find them because the floor was covered with debris, and if they took a wrong step, they could risk hurting themself.
Moby and Coral searched far and wide inside that room but found nothing until Moby noticed a glitter coming from a fallen statue.
"Coral, I found something, come with me."
The two approached the statue and noticed that under it were fragments of a pearl.
"That's a Perl coming from the magic seashell?" Moby asked.
"Yes, but why is broken into many fragments?"Coral wondered.
Coral's questions led her to take some fragments of that pearl and to go and look outside the castle because if the seashell had been stolen it must have been taken away by Puplantis.
"Why do you think that the seashell is not in Puplantis?" Moby asked.
"Think about it Moby, leaving the seashell in Puplantis is not a good idea as it would not be the ideal place to hide it with all its destroyed buildings. It would be too easy to find it."
"So the seashell must be hidden somewhere outside Puplantis, but where?" He said thinking.
"I have an idea of that, but first let's search for more fragments of the pearl. Perhaps those could form a trail that could lead us to the seashell." Coral said. "Good idea, let's go," Moby replied.
Moby and Coral began to look for fragments of Pearl outside the castle, it was not easy to find others because of the sand that moved, covering any traces. But the two did not give up, in fact after some false signals they found fragments of pearl under the sand.
"Other fragments! Moby we are closer to finding the seashell." Coral said happy to be closer to solving the mystery.
"Sure, but we need more fragments so let's continue."
The two Merpups continued their research and the more they went on the more fragments they found, the trail of fragments led them to cross the main streets of Puplantis, but all this did not make sense in Coral's mind.
"How is it possible that no one noticed that the seashell was stolen if the fragments led us to cross the main streets? By force, someone must have noticed."
"Perhaps thieves have used the night to steal it under our noses," Moby suggested.
"Perhaps, but this thing stinks to me."
After a few minutes, Moby and Coral came out of Puplantis. The tracks took them right where Coral feared, in the area of the underwater caves.
"What is this zone, I haven't seen that before," Moby said intrigued.
"This area houses a series of underground caves, once the Merpups extracted materials but once the production was finished these caves were abandoned and left to nature."
"So are we about to enter an abandoned mine?"
"Exactly, But don't be afraid, we won't stay long. Only time to find the seashell and bring it back to its place."
"Okay." Moby gulped.
Coral and Moby entered one of the cave's tunnels. It was dark but some bioluminescent plants allowed you to see just enough to understand the history of this place.
At the center of the tunnel ran a rail that once allowed the transit of trolleys carrying excavated material. The walls of that tunnel were supported by wooden and iron supports so as not to collapse the tunnel.
As they swam through this series of tunnels, Moby and Coral could observe that on either side of the tunnels, there were recesses where machinery had been placed. On their way, in addition to the fragments of pearls, they also found pickaxes and explosives that were used to dig the stone.
"Why was this place abandoned? This could still give a lot in my opinion."
"The history of these places is very gloomy. What you see is only a small part of what the system of these caves is."
"Is this good or bad?"
"Once here not only stone was extracted but also precious metals, this mine has prospered for years enriching Puplantis but one day a huge explosion occurred just below where we are now."
"Oh my dog, don't tell me that." He said watching her in the eyes.
"Yes, Moby." She said looking down. "The explosion collapsed part of the tunnels burying everything and everyone. Many good Merpups died that day and the extraction of stone under the seabed was banned."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Don't be sorry Moby, you and I couldn't do anything. We weren't even there when it happened."
After this chilling story, Moby and Coral continued to swim following the pearl fragments., until they noticed that a beam of light was coming from inside a cave, Moby and Coral hid behind a huge boulder that partially obstructed the entrance to the cave but allowed them to enter and exit normally.
"What do we do now?" Coral asked.
"Stay silent, I need to think and hear what these people said."
On the other side of the boulder was a dog in a diving suit who was talking to his owner about the magic seashell. The cave was lit by an underwater torch that this dog had placed in the center of the room.
"Sid captain sir, here Arrby. What do I need to do with the seashell?" Arrby said through his pup tag.
"You need to hide the seashell here end destroy the entrance of that tunnel. If I can't have that seashell, no one will have it!"
"It will be done," Arrby said first to end radio contact with his captain.
But before Arrby could do anything, he was attacked by Moby, who grabbed him by the neck and pinned him to the wall.
"You will pay for what you have done!" Moby said to Arrby, scared to death.
"No Moby wait!" Coral said approaching Arrby. "Arrby what are you doing here?"
"Wait? You know him?" He said surprised.
"Yes, I've known him since we fought Codi Gizmody at Adventure Bay."
"P-Please, let me go and I'll tell you anything you want!" Arrby said coughing.
"Moby..."
"Alright." Moby let go of Arrby who breathed very deeply happy that he had not died of asphyxiation.
"Now, explain," Moby said with an angry tone.
"Okay. Sid, my captain, wanted the seashell, again. This time, however, he realized that he could not carry it in his ship and decided to hide it so that no one could have it." Arrby explained.
"When did the theft occur?" Coral asked.
"On the night of the attack, Sid used your moment of weakness to take the seashell and left it here. Today I had to bury it below but since you have arrived I will give it back." Arrby said.
"Thank you Arrby, you are very gentle," Coral said. At her words, Moby growled silently, being jealous of Coral.
"Nevermind. Now I have to go, Sid will worry if I don't show up." Arrby said.
"But what if Sid discovers that the seashell is still in our paws?" Coral asked worried for him.
"Don't worry Queen Coral, He will never find out, and besides, I am too important to him."
"Okay, but stay safe." Coral said, making Moby growl again.
"I will," Arrby said before leaving.
After Arrby came out of the cave, Moby and Coral confronted each other over what to do. Moby had become jealous because he didn't want her to be cute to a dog he didn't even know.
Soon after, Moby and Coral lifted the seashell and transported it to Puplantis where the rest of the Merpups helped them put it back in place.
"Thank you from all Puplantis for having saved our seashell." A Merpup said. "Now for greeting let's sing!"
"Thank you very much but no need to sing," Moby said.
"Too late," Coral said giggling. "However, thanks for your help. But I have a question for you."
"Okay, shoot."
"I saw how you behaved with Arrby when he was nice to me, so you were jealous of me?"
Coral's question surprised Moby, who didn't know how to answer. "Uh, no. I wasn't jealous of you. I only wanted to protect you from him." He said blushing.
"Thank you, Moby." She said licking his cheek.
To be continued
|By -TheEmpereor-|