Ty and Peter were staring at each other, as they were confronted by the old sea King, while Allen and Jamie were swimming right behind them.
“Well, don’t just swim there… Say something, Peter!” Ty said to Peter, using his powers of telepathy.
“Why do I have so say something?” Peter argued back, using his own psychic abilities.
“Because you’re the oldest, the biggest, and you’re the strongest Wizard in our group!” Ty replied quickly. “Now is NOT the time to be shy, okay?” Peter rolled his eyes for a moment, and he then cleared his throat while he turned towards the old man.
“Please accept my apologies for this intrusion, oh mighty King. We were just going for a long, enjoyable swim down to the ocean floor. No harm intended!” Peter replied, much to Ty’s relief.
“How is it possible that humans are able you breathe at this depth, and so far from the shore? You don’t resemble any mermen from Corral City, which is my underwater community! And this is the only underwater community in this ocean. Who are you and how is it that you are able to survive underwater like this?” the man asked, while he was hoping for a more specific answer from Peter.
“Alright, then… I’m Peter, and this is my cousin Tyler” Peter said, as he pointed at Ty. “These are our friends from school; their names are Jamie and Allen. We were able to come here because of a magic spell that was placed on us, which allowed us to breathe underwater!”
“And who placed that spell on the four of you?” the man wondered.
“I did, together with Peter!” Ty replied. “We’re Transformation Wizards and we have the power to transform others and ourselves into anything or anyone!”
The old man’s eyes lit up, and his serious expression suddenly turned to one of happiness.
“You two are wizards? Ahh… Then you may be of some help to me. I’m sorry for the hostile treatment, but there have been some underwater fish pirates who have kidnapped my daughter, and we just don’t know how to get her back. We become nervous when we spot strangers in the sea…” the old man said, as he slowly swam to a large, round table, as he motioned the four boys to follow him.
Jamie, Allen, Ty and Peter all set next to each other on a stone bench which was shaped to match the wide, round, concrete table. Then the old man pulled out a framed photograph of a young girl with long, red hair.
“My name is King Triton the Fifth, my daughter Anna was kidnapped by several fish pirates and we think she’s being held on one of the wreckages which can be found a few miles from here. This is what Anna looks like” the old King said, as he struggled to hold back the tears while he was looking at the picture.
“We have sent several of our mermen after her, but they got overpowered by the pirates, who are bigger and stronger than us. Since the four of you seem so big and strong, I thought that maybe you could help me out. Besides, since you also possess magical powers, it will be much easier for you to find her and to bring her back. Can you help me out?” the King pleaded with the boys.
Peter and Ty stared at each other, while Allen and Jamie looked on.
“Yeah, we’ll do it. We’ll split up and then we’ll search the wrecks!” Ty replied with a smile.
“Thank you so much! I wish you good luck! It’s truly a blessing that I received a visit from two wizards!” the King replied, as he shook each of the boys’ hands one by one. Then the four got up and began to swim away, as they divided up in two teams. Allen went with Peter, while Ty went with Jamie.
There were indeed to shipwrecks just three miles from the underwater city, on the ocean floor. Allen and Peter went to the smaller ship, while Jamie and Ty decided to inspect the larger wreck. Little did they realize that they were being watched by other fish-men, who had heads that resembled those of fish, while they had arms and hands as well. The fish-men had swords and knives, and they were determined to kill the four invaders.
When Allen and Peter approached the small cargo ship, they decided to split up and to swim around it. Peter decided at one point to swim over to the bridge, when he heard a sound of something brushing by the broken windows of the room he was in. He turned around to look, when he was caught by surprise by one of the fish-men! The fish warrior grabbed Peter by the shoulders and hurled him with his back against the steel wall. Peter was dazed for a moment, and went into shock when the pirate grabbed a sword in his right hand, while pushing Peter’s chest against the wall.
Peter quickly concentrated on the fish-man, who rapidly started to shrink to a height of three feet, but the shrinking stopped and he suddenly grew back to his original height of six feet again!
“Huh?” Peter exclaimed out of surprise when the pirate grew back to his original size.
“Your magic doesn’t work on me for long, boy! I’ll grow right back!” the fish-man growled at Peter, as he pointed the sword at Peter’s throat.
Just at that moment Allen came swimming around, and he saw how Peter was trapped by the pirate.
“Allen! HELP ME!” Peter shouted out loud, as soon as he saw Allen swim towards them.
Allen immediately wished for Peter to gain one hundred pounds of solid muscle, and Peter began to grow right away!
Peter’s chest rapidly inflated, his arms were swelling up, showing the curves of his massive biceps, triceps, and pectorals. Filled with this surge of muscular strength, Peter grabbed hold of the pirate’s arm, just as he was about to lunge the sword into Peter’s throat.
Using his mighty strength, Peter hurled the pirate against the steering wheel, forcing the fish-man to drop his sword right at Peter’s feet! Peter made the sword’s handle leap into his right hand, using his psychic abilities, and he swam behind the fleeing pirate.
“Thanks, Allen!” he shouted back at his partner, who still had the power to control and to change Peter’s body.
Since both Peter and Allen were excellent swimmers and members of the school’s swim team, they quickly caught up to the fleeing pirate. Allen grabbed hold of his hands, while Peter grabbed him by the shoulders and held the sword to his throat. They both forced him with his back on the ocean floor and they immediately tried to interrogate him.
“Now tell me, fish face, where’s Princess Anna?” Peter asked him in a serious tone of voice. The pirate grinded his teeth, as he was trying hard to be defiant and not to cooperate with his captors.
“I want you to tell me where the Princess is… NOW!” Peter commanded, while pressing the sword’s edge against the pirate’s throat.
“She’s in the other wreck, over there…” he replied, since he now had to obey Peter’s orders through his mind control.
Suddenly the pirate struggled, escaping from Allen’s grip. He grabbed a handful of dirt from the ocean floor and threw it at Peter’s face. Just as Peter was blinded by the sand in his eyes, and the pirate got loose and rapidly swam away.
Peter rubbed his eyes and got the dirt out, but the pirate had gotten away. Allen decided to stay with Peter, and the two finally decided to swim to the other wreck, where Ty and Jamie had gone.
Meanwhile, Ty and Jamie had just gone into the large cargo ship, which was resting on the ocean floor. The ship was leaning on one side, so it was tricky swimming through the doors and windows. As they entered a section of sleeping quarters, they heard a faint voice, which sounded like a cry for help.
“Did you hear that?” Ty asked Jamie.
“Yeah, it came from over there!” Jamie replied, pointing to a long, narrow corridor. The quietly started to swim in that direction, with Jamie leading the way. Suddenly they heard another sound, which came from one of the rooms which had its door standing wide open, facing the corridor.
A fish-man attacked Jamie with his dagger, just barely missing his arm by a few inches! Jamie’s quick reflexes and training in the advanced martial arts were now proven to be very useful, even as a merman on the ocean floor. Jamie quickly turned around and used his large fin to slap the pirate in the face. Then he swam over to the fish-man, who was still in a daze, and he grabbed hold of his arm. He then hurled the pirate against the doorway, knocking him unconscious.
As the pirate sank to the corridor’s floor, he dropped his dagger out of his hand. Jamie quickly swam over, where it landed on the steel floor, and he picked it up.
“Wow! I didn’t know you knew Karate!” Ty exclaimed, while he was still amazed by Jamie speed at which he knocked the pirate out cold.
“Yeah, I have a black belt in Judo and in Karate!” Jamie replied, holding the dagger in his right hand.
“That’s awesome! Well, I think the Princess should be close by!” Ty said, as he pointed at the door at the end of the corridor. They heard someone cry out several times, and they figured that it could have been the princess, who was locked up in one of the rooms.
Ty swam ahead this time, carefully looking both ways and in front of him, as he passed several doors in the narrow corridor. Jamie decided to keep a few feet distance between himself and Ty, so that he could keep an eye on things.
Suddenly another fish-man quietly peered from one of the opening which Ty had just passed! He held a sword in his hand, and he came within a few feet if reaching Ty’s back.
“TY! BEHIND YOU!!” Jamie shouted. Ty quickly turned around, as the pirate was about to strike him in the back with his sword, when Jamie took the dagger in his hand and hurled it at the pirate’s head, killing him instantly!
Both boys were in shock, as the pirate’s body sank to the steel floor, with the dagger sticking out from his forehead.
“Wow, Jamie! Thanks a million, dude! You just saved my life!” Ty said to him. Both boys were still trembling with fear, as they comforted each other.
“Alright, let’s stay calm. Let’s see if we can get to the princess!” Jamie said, as he was trying to get over the shock of actually having killed someone with a dagger.
Both boys opened the steel door, to find a young girl who was bound and gagged. She was a mermaid, and she had long, red hair and big, blue eyes. Immediately the girl started to struggle and to mumble out loud, but she couldn’t say anything because she was gagged. She was tied to a metal rod, which ran down the wall in the room.
Ty used a small knife to cut the gag and to cut the rope which was holding the young, teenage mermaid.
“Thank you so much!” the girl said, still visible shaken by having been held in captivity for several days. “Those pirates just wanted to use me to claim ransom money from my father!”
“Don’t worry; you’re free now, Princess Anne!” Ty said to her, as he held her against him. The poor girl was trembling with fear, but Ty and Jamie assured her that she was now in good hands and that they had come to rescue her.
“There are two fish pirates swimming around, so please be careful!” she said to Ty, as they slowly started to swim out of the room.
“Well, there is only one left, we just killed one of them. And there are two others who came with us, so I don’t think the pirate is going to attack the four of us! He’ll be seriously outnumbered!” Jamie wondered out loud, as the three of them swam out to the deck of the ship. They were happy when they noticed Peter and Allen swimming towards them from a distance.
Then the five of them immediately swam back to Corral City, where they entered the King’s palace right away, and watched the emotional reunion of the deeply concerned father and his lost daughter.
The two of them talked for a moment, when several other mermaids approached her and escorted her to her room so she could freshen up. Then the old King swam towards the four boys, showing a huge smile on his face.
“Allen, Jamie, Ty and Peter! Thank you so much for rescuing my daughter and for bringing her home safely!” the King cheered, as he huddled the four boys together and hugged each one of them. “I will pass a resolution making the four of you honorary members of Corral City! From now on, you will be called the ‘Wizards of the Sea’. Please, stay for awhile longer!”
The foursome couldn’t think of any reason to let this opportunity pass them by, and they thanked the King for his hospitality and his generosity. Then they decided to swim around the city, just to do some sight-seeing. They were also joined by Princess Anne, who began to show a liking towards Jamie!
Every time when Allen, Peter and Ty would turn around, they noticed that Anne and Jamie were holding hands, as they continued to swim through the wide streets of the underwater community. The buildings were all constructed in the classic Greco-Roman style of architecture. There were large, tall columns holding these massive, giant buildings. The windows were all narrow and rectangular, and the doors were tall and wide. All the buildings were white or brown, and the streets were crowded with Corralians swimming everywhere.
All the food establishments had an abundance of seafood, and the group used the opportunity to eat an early supper. They were treated like royalty, every where they went, since all the servants recognized the princess instantly.
After they had spent a few hours swimming around the city, they began to feel tired and they started talking about perhaps slowly swimming back to the surface so they could head back home.
When they had stopped by the palace one more time in order to greet the King and to say goodbye, they were stunned when Jamie didn’t want to come with them.
“Hey guys… I kinda wanted to stay a little longer…” he whispered to Ty.
“What? But, Jamie…” Ty replied. “What about your friends and family back home? You have to come back with us! We live on the surface, not down here!”
“Part of me wants to go home, but another part of me doesn’t… I would love to stay here… I’m serious!” Jamie said, feeling a bit sad about leaving the group.
“But, we can always come back! Now that we know where to find this place, we could come back even next weekend, if we wanted to! But now you should come with us, Jamie!” Peter said to him.
Jamie then kissed Princess Anne on her cheek. The two said their goodbyes in tears, and this time Jamie was the one who was swimming the slowest when they were ascending back to the surface. Both Ty and Peter realized how Jamie was torn between staying in Corral City and swimming back to the surface.
“Hey Jamie,” Ty said to him as he rested his arm on Jamie’s shoulders. “I know how hard it is to say goodbye. But let’s meet again next week. Give yourself a week to think it over, okay? By then, you can tell us what you want to do. We’ll come back to this place, and then you can make your decision, alright?”
“Alright…” Jamie whispered back, in a sad tone of voice.
When the group had almost reached the surface, Jamie turned around and took one last look back at the deep ocean floor below him.
“I’ll be back…” he said to himself. “I’ll be back, very soon…”
For Ty, Allen and Peter, the underwater adventure was unforgettable experience.
But for Jamie, leaving behind the possibility of living in an underwater community with a princess, almost seemed unbearable.
What would Jamie decide to do?