Twisted Wonderland Book 3: The Merchant from the Depths

Chapter 38: Museum Travelogue

The next day, at the Ramshackle Dorm, Briar and the others are all ready to head back to the Atlantical Memorial Museum, so they can return the picture without anyone noticing.

Suddenly, they hear the heat banging coming from the door.

"I'll get it," Sereia says, and walks to the door.

When she opens the door, she sees the Leech Twins, Jade and Floyd.

"Morning, Little Shrimpy, Baby Seal, Twin Catfish, Little Angel Fish, and Plankton! We're here to get you. It's time to go! Floyd says, with a smile.

Grim however, is not pleased to see them, "Erk! Whenever I see you two, I'm always worried you're schemin' something. Makes my heart skip a beat."

"Please. We would never dream of getting rough with those who aren't in breach of contract," Jade says, "The weather's quite clear today— perfect for an outing. On that note..."

"Off we go to the Atlantica Memorial Museum!" Floyd happily says.

Then Jade says, "Azul's arranged it so that we'll have the whole museum booked for ourselves. He's already gone ahead and is waiting for us on-site."

Briat then says, "Well, you guys better make sure that picture had better go back where it belongs."

"And you'd better not have doctored the photo, either," Jasper says,

"We haven't. I've taken full responsibility for keeping the photo in safe custody," Jade says

Then Floyd says, "You're takin' this so seriously, Little Shrimpy! We get it, don't worry. Now, time's a-wastin'!"

Sometime later, everyone arrives in the Atlantica Memorial Museum.

Ace is amazed to see the inside of the museum, "Duuude! WILD. So this is what it's like inside."

Deuce then looks at the statue, "There's a statue of a legendary Sea King. Huh. I guess there are more famous figures around these parts than just the Sea Witch."

"Wow. That king's pretty ripped," Jack replies.

Then Azul, "Welcome, everyone, to the Atlantica Memorial Museum. The Mostro Lounge will be holding a study tour today. Or at least, that's the purpose of our visit on paper. Regardless, I bid you take your time and enjoy yourselves."

"There you are, octo-tentacle Azul!" Grim says.

But soon notices, "Only... you're not. Are you just stayin' in human form?"

"How come you're in your human form?" Sereia says, in her human form.

"Betentacled mermen like myself aren't common around these parts. I wouldn't want to draw any undue attention to myself when our job is to return a photo on the sly," Azul says.

Then Jade and Floyd, swims over in their moray form.

Then Jade says, "I see no reason to be concerned. No one would see the cute chubby little merman in the picture and connect that it's you."

"It wouldn't hurt you any to swim around in your real form on a trip home! Why limit yourself to two legs when you can have eight?" Floyd questions.

Azul crosses his arms with a huff, "Hmph. Just drop it, please. I'm going to slip the photo back in its spot. The rest of you, feel free to explore the museum."

"Hey, check it out. There's a display for the mermaid princess's silver hair comb," Floyd says.

But Ace says, "I saw a picture of that in the pamphlet before. That's clearly a fork, not a comb, right?"

Jade chuckles, "Heh heh heh... Maybe that's how it looks to you land-dwellers."

Everyone else leaves to go explore the museum. Azul is the only one remaining and secretly places the picture back where it belongs. Azul turns to see Briar is standing behind him.

Confused, Azul asks, "You're not joining them?"

"I'm a little worried about you. Consider everything that happened yesterday," Briar says.

Azul sighs and says, "I'll be alright. Thank you for showing some concern."

He looks at the photo and says, "I thought that if I could erase every photo of my past... I could erase my past itself—my youth spent mocked as a slow, dimwitted octo-twerp. The Sea Witch never hid her past misdeeds. She worked to restore her reputation, and earned the people's respect that way. I kept saying I wanted to be like her... But in the end, I couldn't accept my own past. I kept rejecting it."

"Well, if you ask me, I think you're pretty amazing, even without stealing anyone else's magic to do it," Briar says.

"What...?" Azul says, confused.

"Well. It's not everyday that I hear that your incredible diligence is so rare, it left the headmage at a loss. Diligence is way harder to master than magic," Briar says.

"You... You think?" Azul asks, surprised.

Briar giggles and nods her head, "Yeah. I was surprised to see that you even got the headmage hands tied."

Azul then says, "Heh. You needn't try so hard to butter me up. All I wanted to do was get back at the kids who made fun of me."

"Maybe. But you shouldn't worry about those kids, and think about spending your life to the fullest," Briar says.

Azul laughs a bit, "Aha ha ha ha. You sure are one strange human."

Just then, Grim swims up to them and says, "Hey, Briar! You wouldn't believe the size of the dinosaur bones they had back there!"

"That wasn't a dinosaur. It was a sea dragon— a type of undersea monster. The Sea Witch's cave entrance was built out of sea dragon bones...or so the tales claim," Jade says.

Then Floyd says, "They've got a replica of the Sea Witch's cauldron, too."

"Really? They have cauldrons under the sea, too?" Deuce asks, taking an interest.

"How do you heat things up in the water, anyway?" Ace questions.

"Uhhh... Beats me," Floyd replies.

Then turns to Azul, "Azul, you tell 'em!"

"Very well. Fair warning, though: I charge a steep price for playing tour guide," Azul says.