The Heroes of Aeseganora: Part 1 - The Oca-Tree

Their Majesty

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please see the end of the chapter for notes.

The Octonauts cautiously entered the palace, following Vivi from behind. They found themselves in a huge hall with an impressive winding staircase, which lead to a second floor. The palace was gorgeous, but it was absolutely still and eerily silent, with only the echoes of their own footsteps to be heard.

When they saw Sir Ollum sitting upon his throne on the dais, they slowly but confidently approached him, not wanting to make any of the palace guards aware of their presence.

"Yo, Ollum!" Vivi called as she strode forward. "Got some guests 'ere for ya!"

As Vivi stood and let the crew past her, Captain Barnacles removed his hat and gave a deep bow.

"Your Majesty..." he began.

Ollum greatly disliked being disturbed by strangers, and jumped when he heard Barnacles' voice. "Don't tell me," he begun. "Let me guess - another visit? Who is it this time? The Princess of-"

He then immediately calmed down upon noticed the crew as he recognised them.

"Ah, salutations, Octonauts."

"Salutations, Sir Ollum," the crew replied altogether.

"My sincerest apologies, I'd forgotten I'd put in a call for an external alliance for help with this absolute mess," Ollum said, fixing his crown.

"What mess are ye talking about, Your Highness?" Kwazii asked, having forgotten the reason they came to Aeseganora.

"Oh! Right, uh..." Ollum paused, forgetting about what he was going to do next for a few seconds before finally remembering. "Ah, yes! Guards, get us some mugs, will you?"

The guards nodded their heads and grunted, as a means to say "Yes, your Majesty,", before heading to the palace kitchens to tell the chefs what to do.

"Vivianne, you may depart," Ollum continued.

"But I still haven't told ye what this crowd were 'ere for yet!" Vivi said.

"Well, they can tell me themselves, surely? Now off you go."

Fine! What else can I do anyway other than to leave this place? Nobody wants me there, anyway, Vivi thought to herself as she went back home.

Ollum took them to a huge library, which had shelves of books that reached up to the tall ceiling. These books were all bound in polished leather, and whilst some of them did not have titles, the majority of them had a date engraved onto the spine with strange letters and symbols.

This looks a lot like the Professor's library back at the Octopod, only ten times larger, at the very least, the crew thought to themselves.

"Come along, have a seat." Ollum said, as the crew followed him to a log fire at the far end of the room. They sat down on comfortable sofas, whilst Tunip lay at Shellington's feet, holding them tightly in nervousness.

"Hey, it's alright." Shellington whispered, patting his head.

Ollum sank into a throne-like chair, wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, leaned forward, and began to speak.

"First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for coming to my palace at such short notice, and thank you, Professor Inkling, for cracking the code on the rock." Ollum said.

"Oh, uh, it was my pleasure, I guess?" Inkling said, with a hint of uncertainty.

"I know," Ollum replied, knowing what he was thinking. "it isn't very common to be getting calls for help in old-fashioned ways these days."