In The Port

Ahh of course it's for a promotion party. I sooo want to say no but...
Finn looked at Marina.
"Yes. Don't tell me dear you've never been on albatross before?" The mother was surprised.
"Well..." Marina didn't know what to say.
"We must fix that right away! The flight takes off tomorrow at noon, I can come tomorrow morning to pick you all up. Ohh I will pack you some sandwiches too and -
"Stop right there! Time-out! We haven't decided anything yet. First, for how long would we be there and second where is the destination?" Although Finn had his presumptions, he still asked.
"To New Alis, so it should take only about a week to reach it." The mother replied.
"Mom, I told you already, I'm not going home yet. You promised I could stay in Little Falcon for the summer." Finn sounded upset.
"Ohh look at you, jumping to conclusion. I'm the one going home, you kids can return with the same albatross here."
"Aha, really?" The boy raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Yes, yes I know how to keep my promises. Besides, I'm going to be busy in the next following few weeks anyways, so I can't leave you home alone in the big city just like that. Don't you dare to use it as an excuse to act reckless though!" The mother shook her finger.
"Aghh you sound like I'm eight years old and not eighteen." Finn crossed his arms.
"Well I'm your mother who is older and way more experienced than you, and I know how the world is." Miss Cherry spoke in a serious tone.
"Here is your dandelion risotto, the mushroom queen, roasted blue peppers and pasta dust'a. Thank you for waiting and enjoy your meal." The conversation was interrupted by the waitress putting the dishes on the table.
"Oh this looks amazing." Finn's mother was impressed by food presentation.
"The wine smells good too." She added.
Marina was struggling to hide her surprised face.
I know I'm supposed to pretend to be a local from here but it's hard not to react to new things. It's just natural. And wow this is so beautiful! Ahh it smells great too.
Though, who could blame the girl when in front of her was a plate of purple linguine pasta with nettle sauce and parmesan on top. The sauce was also covered in silver edible glitter which gave the texture a nice highlight.
"Alright, let's eat." Finn's mother said.
You don't have to tell me twice.
Marina though in her head.
Everyone had positive reaction to dishes.
Ahh this definitely made me feel better after everything that happened today.
Marina felt happy in the moment.
"This is delicious. Great recommendation, Marina." A satisfied smile appeared on miss Cherry's face.
"No problem." Marina awkwardly responded.
The mother drank the wine before asking,
"So kids, are you going or not."
They all looked at each other.
"Could we have until the morning to decide? This is a wonderful offer and I'm sure we are all thankful for the opportunity but if it's going to be a week- long trip, I'll need some time to think." Camellia tried to buy time.
"Yes I agree, after all, morning is wiser than the evening." Marina added.
"Hmm, well I can wait until nine o'clock in the morning but not a minute longer. I'll be waiting at the nearby caffe bar. If you plan on going, find me there before nine."
"Yes miss Cherry." Camellia replied.
"And thank you so much for the dinner." Marina said.
"Ohh not a problem at all, it was my pleasure." Finn's mother replied.
After dinner miss Cherry went her own way while the three of them returned to Camellia's house. On their way back everyone was quiet and the atmosphere was rather awkward.
"Sooo, what now?" Marina asked as soon as they entered the house.
"Marina, I'm so sorry!" Finn suddenly broke the silence.
"Huh?" She was confused.
"I should have said yes right away but instead I started arguing with my mom and I know how important this is to you. This might be your only chance to get back home but I was selfish." Finn had a sad look on his face.
"You weren't selfish. Talking with parents can be difficult, I get it. Trust me, if I were you, I'd probably react the same." Marina tried to cheer him up.
"No it's true. Even before Camellia mentioned it, I knew albatross could help but I was stubborn and wanted to search for another option. I want to do what's right though even if it means my mom will probably annoy us for the whole week." Finn set on the couch and sighed.
"Well, if we are being completely honest, I'm scared of what we might face down there, that's why I'm still a bit hesitant to go even with the safe option which is the albatross, but Finn is right, I have to do what's right. We can't leave you alone like this." She said with dedication in her voice.
" Thank you guys." Marina smiled.
I sooo wasn't thinking in advance of all possible ways how will I handle this by myself. I didn't really have any reliable friends even on Earth so of course I'm hesitant to completely entrust my struggles to others but being in this situation, where I don't know anything, it's impossible to do this on my own. I'm just glad I bumped into good people who are willing to help me. Heh, I guess I'll put my trust in them.
Marina was thinking in her head.
"Alright, I'll go grab my books." Camellia said as she was walking towards the bookshelf.
"Let's see... We're going to need all the books that I have about mermaids which isn't a lot considering there aren't many available to borrow nor buy in general, well not many useful ones. Ahh I need to return this one soon to the Royal library." Camellia commented out loud.
" Royal library?" Marina sounded curious.
" Yes, in the capital city. It's the biggest library in all of Alis and also the only library that has books with accurate information about mermaids." The fairy explained.
"Hmm we will also need my spell book. I am not confident to do this without it. Plus I haven't memorised all of the spells that are written in there so this one is a must! Ahm, sorry, I easily get carried away when it comes to books."
Camellia chuckled.
"No worries, I can talk for hours about my hobbies too. Besides, I'm interested to hear about the details for the plan so go on." Marina replied.
"Well, I'll take the mineral books too just in case. Now, I know you students have almost all the same information in your textbooks, but I doubt you carried them here for the summer break." Camellia said to Finn.
"I won't act smart so feel free to take as many as we might need. I appreciate it."
The boy said.
"Finn, you have powers too?" Marina asked.
"Yup, I can show you tomorrow if you want. I'd right now but I'm just too exhausted." Finn paused for a moment before saying,
"You probably think that I'm lazy and not cool but trust me, I'll explain everything to you on albatross and then you'll see what I meant." Finn felt the need to explain himself.
"What, me making presumption?" Marina giggled.
"But okay, I'm looking forward to see it." She added.
"Believe me, for this plan to succeed, we will surely need Finn's abilities at some point on our travels." Camellia said.
"Alright, look at the time. If we don't go to bed now, we won't be able to wake up on time to meet up with miss Cherry." Fairy looked at the clock on the wall.
"True." Finn yawned.
"Good night everyone." Camellia said.
"Good night." Marina and Finn replied.
Standing on the balcony in the nightgown, Marina was looking at the stars. There, in the night sky, was a giant moon with slightly pink lightning and another one a bit smaller but still big with cyan lightning.
This really is another world.
Marina was thinking in her head.
So much has happened in just one day and I have a feeling this is just the beginning.
After few more minutes of staring at the moons, Marina finally went to bed.
The next morning all three of them rushed to the caffe bar where miss Cherry was already drinking her morning coffee.
"Oh you're here, that means we're going." Finn's mother looked at them.
"Perfect, let's go, we mustn't be late." She said as she quickly grabbed her belongings.
I still don't get it how could we possibly be late if the flight takes off at noon and it's only nine?
Marina thought.
And so with luggage in their hands, the four of them were headed to the port.
It was a twenty minute walk, which usually wouldn't be a problem for our adventures youngsters but with bags full of books and other things, under the summer sun, Camellia, Finn and Marina looked as they were on the marathon by the time they finally arrived in the port.
"Already tired huh." Miss Cherry commented.
"Not at all." Finn wanted to appear as strong looking.
"Aha. Well you can put your luggage here in this box and take a break. Here, drink some water." Miss Cherry passed the water bottles to them.
"Thank you." They all said at the same time.
"Absolutely no problem, you must stay hydrated. My people will be here any minute, they'll take care of your luggage so you are free to look around then." Finn's mother explained.
Your people?
Marina had a puzzled look on her face.
"Oh, there they are." Miss Cherry said.
"Good morning boss!" Group of people in black uniforms with golden details walked in. They all greeted miss Cherry at the same time.
Boss?!
Marina was shocked.
"Oh Finn, hi! Are you going with us this time?" One of them asked the boy with a smile on his face.
"Aha, yes." Finn nervously replied.
"Yey!" Another one said.
"Hi Camellia."
"Oh who is your new friend, ahh is this your girlfriend?!"
They all started talking at once.
"Noooo!" Finn blushed.
Marina and Camellia laughed in the background.
"Ahm! You'll have time to talk later, let's take this things first to albatross. Work first, talk later." Miss Cherry said with a strict tone in her voice.
"Yes boss!" The uniformed workers followed Miss Cherry.
That's right, we're in the port but I still haven't seen the albatross.
Marina thought.
"Alright kids, you can have free time until eleven o'clock but please be exactly at eleven in front of the ship, not a minute later or otherwise you'll get lost in the crowd and I won't be able to let you pass in advance."
"Don't worry mom, I know." Finn said.
After miss Cherry and her workers left, Marina and her new friends from another world turned around.
"Alright, let's explore the port!" Marina sounded excited.
The three of them walked around.
"So Finn, your mom is the boss?" Marina asked the boy.
"A-aha. I knew you'd found out sooner or later. I mean I'd tell you myself but you know, I-
"Finn was worried you'd think he is bragging and that you wouldn't want to be friends with him then."
"Camellia! You promised you wouldn't tell her."
"Ooops." The fairy smirked.
Finn, while still feeling embarrassed, walked carelessly and bumped into someone.
"Ah, I'm so sorry." Finn immediately apologised.
In front of them was a girl with mysterious look on her face.