Chapter Two

“So, what’s the plan?” Claris asked as they changed out of their swimsuits and bikinis in the changing room at the top of the cliff. To be honest, Acacia didn’t have a plan. All she was focused on was getting to Sirenade and find her missing parents. She hadn’t thought about the actual sirens and the underwater city’s defences.

                  “I . . . don’t have a plan yet,” Acacia admitted.

                  Annice pulled her navy-blue shirt on. “Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, we would be breaking numerous laws, and we’re not under adult protection or anything. And the authorities clearly didn’t want us searching there.”

                  Acacia hated that every word of that sentence was right. And this could end up in an adventure—which she now usually avoided—like with the Shadowness. But if it did, the Guardians would help to destroy them. They were the eight supreme—and anonymous—protectors of Cloudstorm, Skysun, and Moonstar.

                  But either way, she had to know that her parents were alive and well—cling to that small hope. If they weren’t, then . . . she’d have to find a way to deal with it. A girl about eleven years old strode into the changing area, the dark hood she was wearing obscuring her face.

                  Claris shuffled to the other side of the room. “It’s me,” Korii mumbled as she tossed her hood off. Acacia sighed in relief. For a second, she’d thought Korii was the Shadowness in disguise. Not that she expected to see the queen of shadows ever again. Korii had blasted her through a teleportal, hopefully to somewhere secure.

                  “What are you doing here?” Annice asked, frowning. Korii sighed. “My brother—the leader of the Guardians—decided that we should officially recruit you to the Rebel-Lion, since you have inside information on our identities.”

                  “The Rebel-Lion? Is that an organisation?” Claris wondered. Korii nodded. “A secret spy one, to be honest. All recruits have to keep their eyes and ears open for useful or dangerous information around Skysun, Moonstar, or Cloudstorm to report to us.”

                   Acacia’s eyes widened. “So . . . you Guardians created a secret organization in ten years?” Korii was only ten years old.

                   Korii laughed. “I’m older than you think.” Her eyes shone with what had to be a few centuries worth of ancient knowledge and magic. Acacia gulped.

                   “Every official recruit is sworn to secrecy and has one of the Guardian’s as a point of contact. I’m yours since we’re mostly together. If the information you have is urgent, just transport to me,” Korii told them.

                  “So how does this recruiting thing work?” Acacia asked, the problems with her parents and sirens and everything dropping away. Being part of a secret agency sounded cool. Especially one created by the eight most powerful beings that ever existed.

                  “You don’t need to prove your trust or anything. If we decide you’re a vulnerability and danger, we will eradicate you,” Korii warned them. Acacia nodded quickly. Korii smiled, continuing, “I overheard your recent decision to go to Sirenade, which is near one of the Experi—uh—monsters, like the Shadowness. I know you probably don’t want to face anything like that again, but we suspect that your parent’s disappearance had something to do with the monster lying at the Avon Trench, which is right beside Sirenade.”

                  “What monster?” Claris asked, stuffing her wet clothes inside a water-proof bag.

                  Korii hesitated, then she said, “The Kraken. It’s basically a giant octopus trapped inside a special gateway, which is sealed away from Dyia. The gateway is underwater, and only the handprints of two magipeople can open the gateway. After all these years, the gateway will become slightly corroded, and the Kraken should be able to let a little of its powers slip free and kidnap two maigpeople and escape.”

                  “So we’re going on a mission issued from this mystery spy organisation by the most mysterious people in the world and going on a trip to a mysterious city to check on a mysterious gateway that traps a mysterious monster called the Kraken?” Claris summed it up. Korii grinned. “Yep.”

                  Acacia was more focused on the fact that there was more than one monster like the Shadowness. Did that mean there was more? More than just the ‘mysterious’ Kraken and Shadowness? What if she was sent on future short-notice missions? Could she deal with the secrecy and danger?

                  Either way, she was still accepting the mission. It could give her a chance to see her parents and have the backup of the Guardians if anything went wrong the sirens. It was a win-win. “We’ll take the deal,” Annice agreed carefully. “But what if the Kraken escapes while we’re down there?”

                  Korii shrugged. “Just get out and call me. If I’m on another mission, someone else will help.”

Annice mumbled something about ‘one adventure starting everything’ and conspiracies. Acacia shook Korii’s hand, sealing the deal. Once she released Korii’s hand, her friend rehashed all the mission details, and teleported away.

                  “I can’t believe we just agreed to go on another adventure. By a group of rebels,” Claris said. After the danger of the shadows, the Shadowness, Scalers and the Shadow Isle, none of them wanted to have anything to do with stuff like that.

                  Acacia’s iCom (I Communicate) beeped. She trailed her fingers through the soft fabric of her blue tunic that had an embroidered, golden V-neck collar. Her iCom turned out to be in her brown pants pocket, and she slid it out.

                  “The Holiday Yacht surprise awaits you at the Jalanda Docks?” Claris read over Acacia’s shoulder. “Since when did we book a spot at the Holiday Yacht?” Acacia switched off her iCom, slipping it back in her pocket.

The Rebel-Lion sure knew how to operate.

                   “The tickets are on the iCom line, so we’re good to go. And it’s the holidays, so we don’t need permission from school,” Acacia told her friends. Or from my parents, she thought. She as going to find them and get out of Sirenade, although she had to finish her new mission.

                  Everything was going to be fine.