Chapter 3: Bubbles and Big Lizard

Luna woke up.

She wasn't entirely sure why.

She blinked once.

Twice.

"...Morning?"

She looked around.

No.

Definitely not morning.

The palace was darker now.

Not dark enough to hide anything, only enough to let the countless glowing corals, drifting jellyfish and shimmering pearls become the stars of the ocean.

Silver moonlight filtered down from the distant surface, breaking apart into thousands of dancing rays before reaching the palace.

Everything glowed.

Everything drifted peacefully.

"...Pretty."

She liked this version better.

It felt quieter.

The Queen still slept beside her.

Long azure hair floated gently through the water like silk, occasionally brushing against Luna's tiny blanket.

She looked peaceful.

Luna stared at her for several long seconds.

"Tch…She's still pretty."

She continued staring.

"...This is either incredibly wholesome..."

A pause.

"...or incredibly creepy."

She decided it was wholesome.

After all...

She was a baby.

Babies were legally allowed to stare.

Probably, she had no idea what kind of laws existed underwater.

Luna slowly rolled onto her stomach.

This immediately reminded her she possessed approximately the physical capabilities of a potato.

"...Right."

She pushed herself forward.

Nothing happened.

She pushed harder.

Still nothing.

"...Come on..."

Eventually gravity, determination and sheer stubbornness reached an agreement.

She flopped onto the floor very slowly.

"...once again gravity loses to my sheer excellence."

Nobody applauded.

Deeply disappointing.

She crawled across the enormous room.

Everything looked much larger now.

The bed was a mountain.

The furniture was enormous.

Even a decorative seashell looked large enough to live inside.

"...Is this how dwarves feel."

She was still unhappy about this.

Something floated past her nose.

A bubble.

Round.

Perfect.

It shimmered with every colour imaginable.

Luna watched it drift lazily through the water.

"...Come here."

The bubble stopped.

Then...

It floated toward her.

Luna blinked.

"...Again."

The bubble moved closer.

"...Interesting."

She pointed dramatically toward the opposite side of the room.

"Go."

The bubble obediently floated away.

"...Come back."

It immediately returned.

Luna stared.

Then smiled.

"...Excellent my soldier."

Another bubble drifted nearby.

Then another.

Then another.

Luna pointed proudly.

"You too."

The second bubble joined the first.

Soon there were dozens.

Tiny colourful bubbles floating patiently before her like they were awaiting instructions.

Luna folded her tiny arms.

"...Very good."

She nodded once.

"I've acquired followers."

The bubbles bobbed happily.

She wasn't entirely sure whether they understood her thoughts...

...or whether she simply expected they did.

Either way...

They seemed enthusiastic.

She decided to perform science.

"Spin."

Every bubble immediately began spinning around itself.

"...Again."

Faster.

"...Excellent."

She pointed toward the ceiling.

"Formation."

The bubbles arranged themselves into neat little rows.

Luna gasped.

"...They're trainable...is this what a dog is?"

One bubble suddenly stretched.

Tiny little bubble arms emerged from its sides.

It raised one hand.

Saluted.

...

Luna froze.

Very slowly...

She saluted back.

"...Promoted."

The bubble wiggled proudly.

Another bubble suddenly produced little legs.

A third somehow managed to grow an extremely determined moustache made entirely from smaller bubbles.

Luna stared.

"...Outstanding."

She had absolutely no explanation for this.

Nor did she particularly want one.

Sometimes accepting reality was easier than arguing with it.

She looked upward.

The palace ceiling stretched impossibly high above her.

"...I wish to go exploring."

The bubbles immediately gathered beneath her.

She tilted her head.

"...What are you doing?"

More bubbles joined.

They pushed gently against her feet.

She felt herself...

Rising.

"..."

Another inch.

Then another.

Luna looked downward.

The floor was getting smaller.

"...I've invented transportation."

The Bubble Soldier saluted enthusiastically.

She nodded.

"...You're promoted again."

She had no ranks to promote him into.

That was a problem for future Luna.

The bubble army slowly carried her through the royal chambers.

It was magnificent.

Massive coral pillars stretched toward the distant ceiling.

Silver fish swam through marble archways.

Glowing vines climbed ancient Roman-style columns.

The palace looked less like a building...

...and more like someone stole a roman palace and dumped it into an ocean while throwing fish at it and hoping it worked, which granted it did.

"...Earth definitely has nothing to this place."

Luna convinced herself she wasn't on earth.

She floated past an enormous stained-glass window.

Except...

It wasn't glass.

It was crystal-clear water somehow shaped into intricate murals depicting witches riding sea dragons beneath a moonlit ocean.

"...Pretty."

Everything here was pretty.

It was beginning to set unrealistic standards.

She drifted into a hallway.

Several royal guards stood watch.

Helmets polished.

Tridents held perfectly upright.

Professional.

Disciplined.

One blinked.

Very slowly.

As Luna floated past on an army of bubbles.

"..."

The guard looked at another guard.

The second guard looked back.

Neither spoke.

After several long seconds...

The first guard quietly rubbed his eyes.

When he looked again...

Luna was already gone.

"...Did..."

"No."

"...Right."

Professionalism won.

Luna reached an enormous balcony.

There were no windows.

Only a vast opening leading into the endless ocean beyond.

She floated outside.

"...Wow."

The palace stood upon the edge of an enormous underwater ravine.

Its bottom couldn't be seen.

Moonlight disappeared into the darkness below without ever reaching the end.

Tiny glowing fish drifted like falling stars.

Huge shadows moved somewhere beneath them.

Far...

Far below.

"...That seems dangerous."

She leaned slightly forward.

"...Very dangerous."

The Bubble Soldier floated beside her.

Still saluting.

"...I like you soldier, you may be at ease."

Behind her in the bedroom...

The Queen stirred.

Her eyes slowly opened.

She smiled sleepily.

"...Luna..."

She reached beside her.

Empty.

The smile disappeared.

"...Luna?"

Silence.

She sat upright immediately.

The blankets had been pushed aside.

The room...

Was empty.

"...Luna."

Not louder.

Sharper.

Every attendant outside immediately looked toward the royal chamber.

The Queen was already on her feet.

"Luna!"

She searched the chamber.

Nothing.

The adjoining rooms.

Nothing.

Her heartbeat quickened.

Servants hurried into the corridors.

Royal guards began searching every hall.

Nobody had seen the princess, apart from the few guards who act as though they saw nothing.

The Queen continued forward.

Then...

She noticed something.

Tiny bubbles.

Dozens of them.

Floating away through the palace.

"..."

She followed.

Meanwhile...

Luna waved dramatically at the ravine.

"...Hello."

Silence.

"...Understandable."

She looked downward again.

"...It's very deep."

The Bubble Soldier saluted.

"...I know, I wonder why water exists too."

Then—

"Luna!"

She turned.

The Queen stood at the entrance to the balcony.

Relief flooded her face.

"There you are..."

Luna smiled.

She waved both tiny hands enthusiastically.

The Queen laughed softly despite herself.

"You frightened me."

Luna tilted her head.

"...Really?"

Then—

Pop.

One bubble burst.

Then another.

Pop.

Pop.

Pop.

The Bubble Soldier looked down at himself.

He saluted one final time...

Before disappearing with a tiny plop.

"..."

Luna looked downward.

Then at the rapidly vanishing bubbles.

"...Ah."

A pause.

"...I was never a fan of Isaac Newton, screw him for inventing gravity."

Gravity immediately took offence and acted.

She fell.

The Queen lunged forward.

Too far.

Too late.

"LUNA!"

The tiny princess disappeared into the darkness.

For a single terrifying heartbeat...

There was nothing.

Then...

Something moved.

A colossal scaled finger emerged from the abyss.

Ancient blue scales shimmered beneath the moonlight.

The finger alone was wider than the palace balcony.

It gently rose...

With Luna sitting comfortably on top.

She blinked.

"...Comfortable, this lizard can be made into a chair."

The Queen let out a long breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Thank goodness..."

She carefully swam downward and lifted Luna into her arms.

Then she bowed deeply toward the darkness.

"My thanks... old friend."

Deep below...

Two enormous sapphire eyes slowly opened.

Far larger than castle towers.

A low rumble echoed through the ravine.

Not threatening.

Warm.

Ancient.

Luna looked over the Queen's shoulder.

"...Hello."

The enormous dragon blinked once.

Almost...

Amused.

Then the eyes slowly disappeared back into the endless darkness beneath Atlantis.

As though they had never been there at all.

The Queen held Luna a little tighter than before.

Not painfully.

Just enough to reassure herself that her daughter was, in fact, no longer balancing over an abyss on an army of bubbles.

She let out another quiet sigh.

"...Please don't do that again."

Luna looked up at her.

"...I don't actually know what I did tho."

Technically, she had done several things.

None of them seemed particularly unreasonable.

The bubbles had simply...

Retired.

Rather than returning directly to the royal chambers, the Queen smiled gently.

"Since you're awake..."

She adjusted Luna comfortably in her arms.

"...Would you like to see your home?"

Luna blinked.

"...I live here? No way..."

Luna thought of herself as a master of sarcasm.

She looked around the palace again.

"...I've peaked already."

The Queen slowly swam through the palace corridors.

Without the excitement of accidental cliff-diving, Luna finally had time to appreciate everything properly.

The palace wasn't merely large.

It was absurd.

Entire forests of glowing coral had been cultivated indoors.

Marble bridges crossed rivers that somehow flowed through the palace before disappearing into the sea once more, it was so beautiful she never even considered how there could be rivers underwater.

Schools of tiny silver fish swam through chandeliers made entirely from crystal shells.

Large sea turtles drifted lazily overhead, occasionally carrying gardeners tending floating underwater flowers.

"..."

Luna watched one particularly fat turtle drift past.

"...I wonder if they're edible."

The turtle looked back.

It somehow understood her thoughts and tried to quickly swim away, but alas its fat little body couldn't take it far.

"This is the Royal Palace of Atlantis," the Queen explained.

"It has stood for over three million years."

Luna looked around.

"...Looks expensive."

The Queen laughed as all she heard was her baby cooing.

"You're just so adorable."

She pointed toward a distant tower.

"That is the Hall of Tides, where the royal court gathers."

Another building came into view.

"And beyond that is the Archive of Currents."

"We preserve our history there."

Luna nodded solemnly.

"...Good."

She had no idea what history actually involved.

It sounded important though.

"As Queen," her mother continued, "I govern the Queendom of Atlantis."

"We are one of the great witch covens."

"We protect our people, maintain peace beneath Neptune's seas and preserve knowledge passed down through countless generations."

Luna listened quietly.

"...So..."

She looked around.

"...Mother is the biggest witch."

The Queen couldn't help smiling after hearing her daughter make baby noises.

"I suppose you're happy your mama is a big shot."

Luna nodded proudly.

"Excellent, cosmic domination...'cough'...cosmic peace is just around the corner."

They passed through another hallway.

Servants bowed.

Knights saluted.

Scholars hurried past carrying scrolls thicker than Luna herself.

One elderly witch nearly walked into a pillar after noticing the princess.

She recovered with surprising dignity.

"...Good save."

Luna respected that.

Her stomach growled.

"..."

She frowned.

"...Traitor."

It growled again.

Louder.

"...Fine."

Apparently babies required regular maintenance.

Highly inconvenient and expensive.

Just then...

A shrimp floated around the corner.

He wore tiny spectacles.

A remarkably well-tailored miniature suit.

Under one arm was a clipboard.

He appeared extremely busy.

"...No, no..."

he muttered to himself.

"If the eastern support pillar is shifted another three degrees the pressure distribution becomes completely asymmetrical..."

He scribbled something.

"...We'll need another two hundred engineers..."

Luna's eyes followed him.

He looked...

Delicious.

She had absolutely no basis for this conclusion.

It simply felt right.

The shrimp continued floating past, completely unaware.

Luna reached out.

"...Mine."

Nom.

Silence.

The Queen blinked.

"...Luna?"

Luna chewed thoughtfully.

"...Crunchy."

A nearby guard froze.

Another servant slowly lowered the tray she was carrying.

The hallway became deathly silent.

"..."

The Queen looked at Luna.

Then toward the empty water where the shrimp had been.

"..."

"...Did..."

Nobody answered.

One elderly butler quietly whispered,

"...Was that..."

Another servant slowly turned pale.

"...Chief Engineer Wilson Buttinson Charlston the Third?"

A knight dropped his trident.

"...From the Noble Charlston family?"

Silence.

Luna swallowed.

"...Good shrimp."

The Queen stared at her daughter for several long seconds.

"...Luna..."

Another pause.

"...Did you just eat the Chief Engineer?"

Luna blinked innocently.

"..."

She genuinely didn't know.

She thought she'd eaten...

A shrimp.

Because he had looked remarkably shrimp-shaped.

The Queen pinched the bridge of her nose.

"...Please tell me he's alive."

Almost immediately...

A muffled voice came from somewhere inside Luna's blanket.

"YOUR MAJESTY!"

Everyone froze.

Another tiny voice shouted,

"I AM ALIVE!"

A tiny claw pushed its way out from inside the folds of Luna's blanket.

Chief Engineer Wilson Buttinson Charlston III emerged, soaked, dishevelled and clutching his clipboard with the determination of a true engineer.

"I APOLOGISE FOR THE DISTURBANCE!"

he announced.

"The structural integrity report remains undamaged!"

Silence.

He adjusted his spectacles.

"...Also..."

He looked at Luna.

"...Her Highness has surprisingly good manners."

Luna tilted her head.

"...I don't remember having manners...did I not just eat you???"

The Queen laughed.

Once.

Then harder.

Soon the entire hallway joined in.

Even Wilson eventually sighed.

"...In hindsight..."

He looked at Luna again.

"...I should probably wear brighter colours."

Luna nodded.

"...Correct."

She made a mental note.

Shrimp wearing suits were apparently not food and could teleport out of your stomach.

This world was becoming increasingly complicated.