what happened after unlocked

chapter thirty-six ~ have a very rainbow day

I'm serious, please do have a very rainbow day - it's not just the chapter title.

"Should we go somewhere else to celebrate?" Marella suggested, gesturing at the party of elvin adults before them.

"Atlantis..." Biana said eagerly. "Please?"

"Only if Linh promises not to buy any more murcats," Tam grumbled, eyeballing his sister.

"Fine, fine," Linh said reluctantly. "But it wouldn't be a celebration without murcats!"

Sophie pulled off her heavy cape and pulled on the hem of her skirt as she walked. How she hated those things. Sandor eyed her heels nervously – even he anticipated Sophie's next fall.

The group told the adults of their next expedition, and they allowed it, only if they took all their bodyguards.

All of them.

Which was hard – for Biana.

Woltzer found it especially hard to follow right behind her when she just kept disappearing every few feet.

"Sorry," she mumbled, going back a step so she was with the others. They'd made it to the small rock pool where the whirlpool to Atlantis was, so Biana pulled the cork off the top of the bottle she was holding and let the whirlpool swirl in the tiny pool.

One at a time, they all jumped in, Sophie still a little terrified.

The whirling tornado carried the twelve elves and seven bodyguards down, deep into the wide blue ocean, and soon enough they were swept onto the giant sponge at the bottom of the sea, which soaked up the water they'd been immersed in.

"Woah," Flori panted, turning a sickly shade of green that matched her thumbs, "I don't think I'll be trying that again."

The gnome had been staying at Havenfield for a while now – Sophie had pretty much forced her to ever since she'd been kidnapped. She was determined to keep Flori safe – Calla would have wanted it, and Flori had given Sophie so much to be thankful for. Flori was too much to lose.

"Are you all okay?" Sophie asked her friends.

She didn't really need to ask, though – their faces lit up as soon as they sighted whatever was behind her. Sophie spun around to look at the beautiful seascape of Atlantis, taking in its modern, busy, and bright glory.

She couldn't help but smile, even if it reminded her of some of her most painful memories.

"This is my favorite place in the whole wide world!" Biana said, joyfully whirling around in a circle with her arms spread out. Her happiness was contagious.

Dex and Jensi ran forward to join her, and in less than ten minutes they had boarded the carriages taking them to the center of the city, pulled by nerve-wracking .

They still made Sophie's stomach jittery.

"There are so many places I can take you!" Biana ranted. "Ellisa's Fairwear, The Sunken Ship, Berry Cone, Prom Encyclopedia...and so, so many more..."

The entire group was genuinely afraid of Biana's plan.

"Um, Biana," Linh said softly, catching her friend's eye, "That sounds really fun, but I was planning on getting some other things...important things...also, I need to buy some new furnishings for the house me and Wylie and Prentice are staying in because it's getting a little inconvenient."

"And we need more murcats to annoy Tam with," Wylie winked, dragging Marella along with him. The carriage slowly came to a stop in the middle of a deserted intersection, and the group exited the vehicle, Biana wearing a small pout.