As Sterling expected, Ron showed no reaction to the name, while Hermione's eyes widened like Harry spotting the Golden Snitch mid-match.
"Is that the legendary lost kingdom?"
"Don't know. That's just what they call themselves." Sterling waved his hand dismissively—this question didn't seem worth dwelling on, so he'd never asked the king or princesses.
"Speaking of which, we're only at the border now. There's still a considerable distance to the actual kingdom."
Sterling spread his arms wide to illustrate the vast expanse.
"So you mean we just swim there?"
Hermione tried swimming with experimental strokes. Unfortunately, she hadn't learnt much swimming and felt her limbs had their own ideas about direction. After some frantic dog-paddling, she blushed and curled up, hoping the water would hide her embarrassment.
Ron, however, displayed extraordinary swimming technique, his legs kicking with surprising speed. If Sterling hadn't grabbed his collar in time, he'd have vanished into the blue distance.
"Of course not. Atlantis is a kingdom—do you think it's some pretend title? It's no smaller than London. If you think walking from London's outskirts to downtown is easy..." Sterling made an exaggerated gesture of exhaustion.
"Then what do we do? Oh! We can attract mermaids through song and have them take us to Atlantis!"
Hermione raised her hand eagerly. "In Andersen's 'The Helpful Sea Witch and the Disobedient Little Mermaid', the prince used this method to find the mermaid princess confined by her father for disobedience!"
Finishing her explanation, Hermione began clearing her throat, preparing her voice—
"Stop! You said it yourself—it's Andersen's fairy tale—"
Sterling quickly made the bubble on Hermione's head split off a smaller one to plug her mouth, cutting off whatever operatic attempt was about to emerge.
"Mermaids are all Atlantis royalty. How could they possibly be at the border, letting you summon them like pets?"
"Mmph! Mmm!" Hermione bit through the mouth-plugging bubble with determination. "I knew you were also an Andersen devotee! The detail about the prince riding Ariel's third sister to find her—even many fans overlook this!"
Her eyes shone with the light of finding a kindred spirit.
Sterling covered his face with one hand. At this point, him being Andersen was the worst-kept secret in their group.
Otherwise Hermione might actually try to assassinate him for butchering her favourite stories.
"Anyway, that's not a good method. Ron! What are you doing?!"
A red blur "whooshed" past Sterling like a torpedo. Looking closer, Ron had grabbed onto a passing dolphin and was now hitching an enthusiastic ride, his whoop of excitement muffled by water.
Sterling quickly manifested a fishing net ahead of Ron's trajectory, catching both him and the startled dolphin in one sweep.
He couldn't let Ron run wild in Avalon—who knew if he'd end up at Atlantis or lost in the treacherous black coral reefs where even light feared to venture?
Without Sterling's protection, Ron wouldn't last an hour.
"Ron! I already emphasised that Avalon isn't entirely safe—how can you leave my sight like this?"
"Exactly! Ron, you're too reckless!"
Facing double Ravenclaw pressure, Ron lowered his head like a scolded puppy, obediently accepting the lecture.
"But you've done something useful with your recklessness." Sterling changed tone, patting the dolphin trapped in the net, who was making uncomfortable clicking sounds.
Sterling responded with a low, melodious series of clicks and whistles. Hermione's and Ron's jaws dropped—the sounds were identical to dolphin communication.
Ron's mental image of Ravenclaw House rose even higher on his respect scale.
No wonder they're the smart ones—they're even talking to dolphins! Amazing!
He glanced at Hermione, who quickly waved her hands. "Sterling doesn't represent all of Ravenclaw. I warn you against overgeneralising and forming stereotypes."
Ron dismissively turned away with theatrical disdain.
Hermione can't talk to dolphins; she's clearly an inferior Ravenclaw, nothing impressive.
Sterling can talk to dolphins, a true Ravenclaw genius, a hero worth following.
After exchanging several more complex sound patterns with the dolphin, Sterling removed the net. The freed creature nuzzled his cheek affectionately, squeaking with obvious gratitude.
"See? This is the correct method to reach Atlantis."
Sterling manifested a specialised saddle on the dolphin's back, perfectly contoured to its sleek form, then conjured an elegant carriage attached behind with shimmering magical tethers.
After examining his handiwork, Sterling stepped back to admire the construction, then waved his wand with a flourish. The carriage transformed into a magnificent pearlescent shell, its interior cushioned with impossibly soft sea foam.
"Now it's properly Atlantean." Sterling nodded with satisfaction.
Originally he'd planned to transform himself into a dolphin, shark, or other marine animal to pull them to Atlantis, but with willing transportation available, Sterling naturally chose maximum efficiency.
Magic power—conserve when possible.
Hermione welcomed this change wholeheartedly—even the calmest girl couldn't refuse travelling the ocean depths in a fairy-tale shell.
As for Ron—could any boy refuse this adventure? Impossible. He'd already vaulted aboard, claiming the best viewing spot.
Sterling exchanged a few more whistling sounds with the dolphin, then settled on the shell's curved edge, steering toward the location indicated by the gentle blue glow emanating from his chest like an internal compass.
Hermione leaned half her body out of the shell, her eyes wide with wonder, practically glowing with excitement. The magnificent underwater world revealed its mysterious depths—schools of brilliantly coloured fish that shouldn't exist in deep waters swept past them in synchronised clusters. Strangely shaped corals glowed with bioluminescent light on the seabed, pulsing like heartbeats. Several clownfish darted in and out of anemones, their orange scales catching the ambient light.
As the dolphin swam deeper, the underwater world grew increasingly bright, defying all natural laws. Though they were descending into what should be crushing darkness, the light that should diminish with depth completely reversed after crossing a certain invisible threshold. Their current deep-sea location looked nearly identical to sun-dappled shallow waters.
More and more fantastical "marine animals" appeared in graceful groups. The seabed corals somehow projected coloured light beams in all directions like the laser shows Hermione had seen at exhibitions—the entire ocean floor resembled an eternal festival, a banquet hall celebrating existence itself.
"Is this magic?"
Hermione extended her hand into a passing light beam, watching it refract across her skin. She withdrew it slowly, examining the glowing "water flow" clinging to her fingers like liquid starlight, speaking with longing to Sterling.
"This is magic."
Sterling hummed a melodious tune in harmony with the dolphin's natural song. The music echoed across the seabed, carried by currents and magic intertwined. Moments later, more voices joined this impromptu performance—fish adding their own notes, even the water itself seeming to hum. The corals cooperated by spinning their light beams faster, creating a kaleidoscope of colour.
Watching a passing sea turtle add its own deep bass rumble, Ron gathered his courage and belted out a note with more enthusiasm than skill, immediately drawing Hermione and Sterling's startled attention.
"Do I sing badly?"
"No no no, you sang with heart." Sterling waved reassuringly. "That's what matters. Music is for happiness, not perfection."
"Exactly right."
An unfamiliar voice sounded by Ron's ear, melodious and warm, like discovering a flower suddenly blooming on the seabed, letting him smell an impossible fragrance.
"What—a mermaid?!"
The moment Ron turned his head, his face flushed scarlet. He covered his eyes dramatically, though his fingers left a conspicuously wide gap for viewing.
Hermione made the exact same motion, though her curiosity won over propriety. Looking at the mermaid's face, she couldn't help exclaiming softly—the illustrations in Andersen's fairy tales looked remarkably similar, almost as if drawn from life.
"Hello there." The mermaid covered her mouth, laughing with crystalline clarity, her voice like pearls falling on glass.
Her beautiful emerald-green tail swayed elegantly in the gentle current, scales catching light and throwing rainbow patterns. Her entire body wore only two shells strategically tied at her chest with golden cord. Bright red hair floated in irregular, mesmerising patterns with the water's movement, adding to her otherworldly charm.
"I'm Ariel, Atlantis's seventh princess!"
She proudly puffed her chest, her flowing hair swinging forward dramatically in a cascade of crimson, making Hermione genuinely envious.
She'd dreamed of having Ariel's impossibly silky smooth hair since childhood.
Wait. Ariel?
Such an incredible coincidence—even sharing the same name as the protagonist of "The Helpful Sea Witch and the Disobedient Little Mermaid". If not for the fairy tale's Ariel being the sixth princess, she might think Andersen was an escaped Avalon native who'd chronicled real events.
"Long time no see, Sterling! You haven't visited in one month... two months... anyway, far too many months!"
Ariel's tail flicked once, and she teleported to Sterling's left in a shimmer of displaced water. For daughters of the sea, if they wished, everything in the ocean would pave their way.
Not just invisible speeds—raising storms, summoning tsunamis, making underwater volcanoes erupt—as long as they remained in the sea, they were functionally omnipotent.
Only Avalon had too many absurd beings for this to matter much. If such species appeared in the present world, one could only pray all mermaids possessed virtues as beautiful as Atlantis royalty.
"I've been quite busy recently; I really couldn't spare the time. Sorry, Ariel. When things calm down, I'll come play with you more often."
"Truth."
Hearing the ocean itself transmit its judgement of Sterling's sincerity through subtle vibrations, Ariel clapped her hands delightedly, then examined Hermione and Ron with curious azure eyes that seemed to see straight through to their souls.
"You brought friends!" She approached Hermione with genuine warmth.
"Can you tell me your name, human girl?"
"Hermione—Hermione Granger—" Facing such a sunny, cheerful presence, even confident Hermione felt somewhat shy and small.
Ron, meanwhile, had already blurted out what colour underwear he wore today when Ariel's penetrating gaze swept over him.
Child, is this information you should be sharing?
Sterling pressed down Ron's flushed head with one hand, momentarily unable to distinguish whether his complexion or his hair blazed redder.
"Ariel, I have important business this time. Could you open the gate for us?"
"Important business?" Ariel's index finger touched her full lips thoughtfully, her head tilting in that universal gesture of consideration. "Something about Great Wizard Vivian?"
"No, this is my personal request."
"Alright, alright—and Sterling, your request carries more weight than Great Wizard Vivian's in Atlantis." She smiled warmly. "So don't look so troubled."
Ariel removed an ornate conch from where it was woven into her hair and brought it to her lips.
The conch's sound wasn't the rough, hollow noise Hermione expected from her experience with seaside souvenirs. Instead, it seemed to contain a small orchestra hidden within its spiralling chambers. Melodious singing emerged from the shell, complex harmonies layering over each other. Just Ariel's solo performance created grander, more moving music than the earlier underwater chorus.
"Hermione! Look!" Ron grabbed her shoulder excitedly, pointing at the vast seabed plain spreading before them.
The previously empty ocean floor suddenly filled with rising mist, thick and ethereal. Within the dense fog, a magnificent city entirely constructed from natural minerals and ocean jewels appeared gradually, its outline ghostly and beckoning.
From the city's centre came music similar to Ariel's conch song, but deeper, more resonant—making listeners feel instinctively that the musician had experienced far more stories and carried far more history than young Ariel.
"That's my second sister—today's our duty shift, unveiling Atlantis for visiting guests!"
Ariel explained to confused Hermione and Ron, then took a deep breath, pursing her lips to blow the longest, most sustained note yet. Coloured staff lines and musical notes actually manifested from the conch, becoming visible magic drifting toward misty Atlantis like luminous messengers. The moment they touched the fog, rainbow-like ripples spread outward in expanding circles, dispersing all concealing mist at once.
The splendid imperial city revealed its full glory to the visitors—towers of compressed pearl, walls of living coral studded with gems, and streets paved with mother-of-pearl that caught and multiplied every beam of light. The revelation even dyed the entire surrounding sea rainbow-coloured, transforming the water itself into a prism!
"Increasingly magnificent, Atlantis." Sterling sighed with genuine appreciation. When he'd last visited, Atlantis was luxurious but not to this breathtaking extent—it looked almost like someone had piled every gemstone in existence into architectural form.
At least before there were many iridescent corals for decoration. Now they were using rare corals as structural foundations?
"All thanks to Sea Witch Grandma." Ariel said with a bright smile. With Atlantis's wealth increasing exponentially, these little princesses naturally received more and better jewellery and clothes as gifts. She now had one hundred percent respect for the Sea Witch, who could generate such revenue for the kingdom.
"I knew Grandma Ursula was the ocean's best magician!" Sterling smiled with genuine satisfaction.
Strange—since entering Avalon today, his mood had brightened considerably. The shadows that had been pressing on his heart seemed dispelled by the ambient magic, leaving only bone-deep comfort spreading through his chest.
He could almost hear his unusual "blood" singing with joy at this freedom.
"So—are you here to find Grandma Ursula?" Ariel made another endearing head tilt, the gesture impossibly cute. Sterling glanced at Ron's expression and seriously considered temporarily covering the boy's eyes to prevent him from embarrassing all of present-world humanity.
"Yes, Ariel. Take us to Grandma Ursula's wizard tower—she can't possibly still be living at the black coral reefs, right?"
"Of course not! Grandma Ursula is now the first person under Father... um, first octopus? Wait, is Grandma Ursula an octopus or squid—or is it cuttlefish?"
Sterling didn't know the biological differences between these three cephalopods, but watching Ariel lead them while pondering this taxonomic mystery, clearly about to bring them directly to the palace hall, he had to interrupt her wandering thoughts.
Entering the hall meant genial King Triton wouldn't let them depart without sampling his legendary "hospitality"—a feast that could last for hours.
"Ariel? We're here specifically to find Grandma Ursula. Our time is very limited, okay? Can we visit the palace properly next time?"
"Alright, alright." Ariel's shoulders drooped with obvious dejection—she'd clearly been planning to bring them into the hall for an impromptu celebration.
"Then be careful. Even with Father's help, Grandma Ursula hasn't completely eliminated Sea Beast Magic's side effects yet, okay?"
"I'm well aware of the risks. Hermione, Ron, don't enter with me. Wait outside with Ariel."
Looking at the nearby obsidian tower rising from the seabed like a dark finger pointing at the surface world far above, Sterling began methodically flexing his wrists and ankles, preparing for whatever physical challenge awaited inside.