“He’s a bit cold on the outside, but once you get to know him, you’ll realize that he’s got a sensitive soul,” Landen said in a low voice to Caelin. When they left the hotel room, he had trailed behind to walk with her when he spoke, just out of earshot of Theo and Elli a few paces ahead of them. 

“What?” Caelin looked at him quizzically.

“You can trust him.” Landen winked at her with a knowing smile. Refusing to elaborate further, Landen and Caelin had caught up with Theo and Elli beside the elevator. 

“How long will you be here in Sireine?” Theo asked. 

“Longer than you,” Landen replied with a grin. “Will you have any free time in the evenings, or are you working for the entire day?”

“I think I should be free tonight,” Theo said. 

“Let’s have a drink then, for old time’s sake,” Landen suggested. 

Making eye contact with Caelin, Elli rolled her eyes in amusement while silently mouthing the word, “Boys.” 

“Is it so wrong for a man to want to catch up with his old friend after not having seen each other for a while?” Landen asked in mock offense, catching his fiancée in the act. 

“Of course not, darling,” Elli said, placing a hand on his arm. “You can do whatever your heart desires.”

“Thank you, my dear,” Landen said. “So what’ll it be, old chap?”

“Let’s do drinks tonight,” Theo agreed.

“Well we’d better get back soon before we miss the meeting time, and Lilac decides to start setting curfews,” Caelin said, pushing the button to call the elevator. 

“Can she actually do that?” Theo asked, concerned.

“Unfortunately, she reserves that privilege to only torment me,” Caelin sighed. 

“Wait where are we meeting?” Theo asked as the elevator arrived with a ding, and the lattice door swiftly opened. 

“End of the Line?” Landen suggested. 

“Understood.” Theo nodded.

“Thank you for your help again,” Elli said, giving Caelin a hug. “I’ll let you know if we hear anything more about Dr. Manton or the kraken. It really was a pleasure meeting you.”

“Likewise,” Caelin said, returning the hug. “Just don’t get scammed again when selling your jewels, and stay away from the mercenaries. We know that boutique is a safe spot now at least.”’

Elli giggled, pulling back from the hug. “I hope we can stay in touch, Caelin.”

“Definitely,” Caelin said and got into the elevator with Theo. There was the same sound of the cogs and gears turning as the elevator rapidly dropped down, and Caelin’s ears popped again before arriving at the hotel lobby. 

When Caelin and Theo returned to the villa, they were greeted by the sight of Lilac sitting at the dining table with her head down in silence. There seemed to be a gloomy atmosphere surrounding her.

“Pssst.” 

Caelin turned to see Killian and Hale waving frantically from the parlor room. 

“What’s going on?” Caelin whispered as she walked over to them with Theo. Looking out the bay window, she could see that the sun hadn’t completely set yet, so she couldn’t imagine Lilac being upset that they were late. 

“We don’t know,” Hale whispered back. “We found her like that when we got back a few minutes ago.”

“I tried asking the palm, but it said she was like this as soon as she first walked in,” Killian said. “She’s apparently been like that for over an hour now.”

“Why are you holding a book, Hale?” Caelin asked, staring at the leather-bound volume in the blonde boy’s hand.

“Oh, I got this for myself while we were out today,” Hale said, holding up the book. “A group of merchants said it’s imported from Diaskia. It’s about the chemistry behind explosive devices. I was hoping it would give me some ideas for controlling my Imperium.” He flipped through a few pages. “Did you guys know that combustion requires oxygen to react with something to release energy as light and heat?” 

“What’s that?” Theo asked, changing the subject as he pointed to a newspaper wrapped object in Killian’s hands. It appeared to have oil stains seeping through the ink.

“We got some fish and chips for the team on the way back,” Killian explained. “I would offer you some now, but I’m not sure what’s acceptable since Lilac's like that.”  

As if on cue, an incoherent groan came from the dining table before Lilac’s voice sounded somberly, “I can hear you guys talking.”

“What’s wrong, Lilac?” Caelin asked bluntly. 

Lilac let out a loud sigh and propped her head up with her hand. “I just forgot how small the world can be sometimes.”

“Ran into an old lover?” Caelin guessed.

“Worse,” Lilac said. “His new partner.” 

“Ouch.” Hale winced. 

“Whatever, it’s all in the past anyways,” Lilac said, acting apathetic, though her expression suggested otherwise. “Now, tell me what you’ve all found.” 

The four of them joined Lilac at the dining room table, and Killian placed the now-lukewarm fish and chips in the center of them all. He unwrapped the newspaper to reveal five golden-fried fish fillets surrounded by deep fried potato wedges. 

“After talking to some fishermen and sellers in the open air market, we found out that they’ve been asked to bring all the deep sea fish to Dr. Manton, who resides beside the lighthouse,” Caelin said. She popped a potato wedge into her mouth. It was surprisingly still crispy and seasoned with a healthy serving of sea salt.

“There’s also been rumors of a kraken now residing in the port’s waters,” Theo added.

“We heard about the kraken too,” Killian said. “One of the merchant ships was allegedly attacked by it right outside the port when passing by the cove last week. The boat was split in half.”

Lilac frowned. “Were there any survivors?”

“Just one,” Killian said somberly.

“Did you interview him?” Lilac picked up one of the fried fish and began mindlessly picking at the golden batter.

“It took a while, but we managed to find him at a pub,” Killian said. He gestured towards the fish and chips. “It’s where we got this from.”

“When we talked to him, he was absolutely wasted, so the stuff he said was a bit…strange.” Hale grimaced. 

“How so?” Caelin asked in interest. 

“Well he kept talking about spirits in the mist right before the attack,” Hale laughed nervously. “Ghosts aren’t real, right? Like how krakens aren’t actually real?”

Lilac turned towards Killian. “What did the merchant say?”

“He did mention that he saw visions of ghosts and otherworldly beings right before the ship sank,” Killian confirmed. “But there were reports of heavy fog the morning of the alleged kraken sighting. I spoke with a few other merchants, who have already heard the story, and they said that light from other ships could cause refractions against the water droplets in the air, leading to impressions of a corporeal form. Since they were also close to the cove, the shipwreck could’ve also been caused by hitting a small sea stack that the lookout failed to spot due to the dense fog.”

“But he said that he saw the tentacle arm,” Hale recalled. 

“It could’ve just been the sea stack’s shape that he mistook for a tentacle in his panic,” Killian pointed out.

“But he said that he was so close to it that he could even see the suckers on it. They each had the diameter of a meter.” Hale stretched his arms out as if trying to estimate how long a meter was.

“Maybe it was just a colossal squid?” Killian shrugged.

“No, Theo and I saw a colossal squid down at the pier, and it was definitely smaller than that,” Caelin said, waving a fish fillet around in disagreement. 

“Did either of you try meeting with this Dr. Manton or scouting out the scene of the shipwreck?” Lilac asked, staring at the remaining potato wedges pensively.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Great, this will be the plan for tomorrow then,” Lilac announced. “Caelin, Theo, and Killian, you three find a way to meet with Dr. Manton tomorrow and interview him. Hale, you’re coming with me to the cove. It’s supposed to be foggy in the early morning, so we’ll leave before the sun rises.” 

“Wait, why do I have to go to the shipwreck scene?” Hale asked as his face turned pale. 

“Great work today, everyone’s dismissed,” Lilac said, ignoring Hale. “Feel free to go out and explore Sireine for fun, enjoy yourselves. Except for you, Caelin.” She pointed at the heterochromatic-eyed girl. “I haven’t forgotten about your curfew orders, and you’re not allowed out without a chaperone.” 

Caelin sighed and sat back down. 

“Goodnight then, everyone.” Lilac got up and walked into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

“Someone, tell me that ghosts aren’t real,” Hale pleaded miserably.

Killian silently patted him on the back in consolation.

“I think…I’m just gonna go to sleep now.” Hale dejectedly walked upstairs and entered the room he was sharing with Killian. 

“Someone accidentally spilled a bucket of hippocampi dung on him earlier today,” Killian said, quickly following after Hale. “Let me make sure he washes up before going to sleep. I do not want to smell that all night.”

Theo stood up from the table as well. “I’m going to head out to meet with Landen. I’ll see you tomorrow morning then.”

“See ya,” Caelin said glumly, her eyes following Theo as he left the villa.

After hearing the front gate creak as Theo left, Caelin hurried into her room and closed the door. She hastily rearranged the pillows under the blanket to appear as if she had gone to bed before opening the window in the room. Crawling out of the window, Caelin clung to the window ledge and judged the distance beneath her. There were no trees nearby to climb down from, but she was fairly confident that she could brace the fall. Kicking off of the stucco wall, Caelin jumped down and broke her fall with a small tumble. Though the moon had already begun to rise, she was now directly outside the parlor room’s window and could still be spotted. She needed to move. Since Caelin couldn’t risk being caught by the sound of the gate, she hoisted herself over the villa’s courtyard stucco fence and dropped down onto the street. Her escape attempt was a success. In the near distance, she could faintly spot Theo’s retreating form underneath the gas lamps lighting the cobblestone path.

Under the moonlight, Caelin grinned to herself. There was no way she was going to miss out on discovering what Theo and his friend were hiding.