Disappearance of Roselei Hawthorne

Chapter Thirteen

"Where do we even start?" Kallen asked as he looked out upon the ruins of the old dragon-born village. "It sure is a lot bigger than I anticipated."

"Cerise said that the swimming holes were hidden beneath stone, right?" Lillia started scanning the ground for any sign of the aforementioned stone 'lids.'

"She did, which means that we should be keeping an eye out for any large cracks in the ground." Gideon said as he too, began searching the ground.

As they all searched for any indication of a covered hole, everyone ended up splitting into their own little search parties. Gideon stuck by Lillia's side as the two of them searched together, while Celty, Kallen, and Vulcan ventured off on their own.

"Hey, I've been wondering," Celty began, "what are we going to do after this?"

"I think that all depends on whatever we're looking for. If its another letter, then it'll probably point us somewhere. We'll know when we find it." Kallen explained.

"No, no, not this exactly... I mean, this whole thing." Celty tried to elaborate. "Like, what are we going to do once we figured out exactly what happened to your mom, Kallen?"

"That's a good question." Vulcan nodded in agreement to Celty's inquiry. "What are we going to do?"

"I... I'm not sure." Kallen furrowed his brow. "Everything just started happening so quickly. For years Lillia and I had scoured Urania in search of anyone willing to help us. But then, out of nowhere, we run into Gideon. Days later we've set sail with him and Vulcan, before washing ashore on BearClaw Island. I guess there just wasn't the time to really think about it."

"The letter you got from your mom implies that she had some sort of plan all laid out." Vulcan pointed out. "Maybe the next step is already figured out for you."

"I guess its possible." Kallen shrugged. "What about you guys? What are you going to do once we're done?"

"I think... I think that I need to come back here." Vulcan frowned. "If I'm their prince, doesn't that make it my responsibility to be here for them?"

"But if we make it safe for dragon-borns to live among humans then you won't have to hide out inside this mountain." Celty reminded him.

"Oh yeah, that's right." Vulcan smiled a little. "But I still want to help them all, at least for a little while, to make sure they're all able to find nice homes and stuff."

"I think that would be great." Kallen grinned, before turning to Celty. "What about you?"

"Well, I've actually been thinking about it, and I think I'd like to continue traveling." Celty smiled softly to herself. "When I healed Vulcan back at BearClaw Island, that was the first time I'd ever performed a ritual like that. It was something that I knew I could do, but I'd never actually done it. I guess I've just been wondering else I can do. And I think the best way to learn would be to meet the other water-spirits."

"There's supposed to be four of you, right?" Vulcan asked.

"Yeah." Celty nodded. "One for each part of the oceans. They're... well, they're the closest thing I have to blood relatives. I know water spirits don't actually reproduce the way other races do, so we wouldn't actually be blood related, but that doesn't change how I feel."

"I think it would be cool to get to meet them." Kallen nodded. "Maybe you can even get more merfolk to reign over."

"Y-yeah, maybe." Celty smiled fondly at the idea.

"But wait... " Vulcan had a solemn expression on his face. "Does this mean we're all going to be splitting up after we uncover this mystery?"

"O-oh, I didn't think of it that way." Celty shared Vulcan's melancholy. "I don't want to split up! I want to stay friends!"