With Fabulous cupped in one of his fins, Ramone swam back into the living room. Coral followed him, her legs and arms still stinging from the urchins’ attack. They settled on the bright orange and lime sofa and the sea creatures crowded in, all shaken by the near escape. Dobbin and Swish linked their tails tightly. Bubba the puffer was on edge, puffed to his fullest, just in case. Otto was trying to calm the Crevettes, who were twittering nervously, and Marvin the eel was quivering like a jelly.
Coral looked at Fabulous and bit her lip. Ramone shook his head, jangling his shells.
‘I’m bad, Coral! Baaaad turtle! Should’ve told ya, should’ve warned ya! Baaaaad, bad turtle!’
‘Warned me of what?’
The old turtle sighed heavily. ‘Coral, we have a dangerous enemy. There are dark forces here. But hey, I’m thinking, you must be thinking, “Why is my house underwater and what are all these crazy fish doing here?”’
Ramone’s loud raucous laugh burst out of him. He shook his head, rattling his necklaces, and clapped her on the back with his fin.
‘Um, yeah, well,’ she said, ‘it had crossed my mind…’
‘I bet it has!’ He laughed again, shells jangling. But then his smile slowly dropped.
‘We arrived, Coral, the night your tears fell. We wanted to make you happy again. The more tears there were, the more of us came. More of us to make you smile, girl! We love that great big smile of yours!’
Coral couldn’t help but smile again.
‘We want you to have joy in your heart! We know that’s what your parents would want for you, wouldn’t they?’
Coral nodded and the great turtle put a fin around her.
‘But not all the creatures here want to bring back happiness.’
Coral frowned. The stingray. The stonefish. The urchins.
‘Those dudes you met in the kitchen? Well, they are unhappy souls and they hate to see happiness in others. They want to crush hope. They were drawn by your tears too and they want to make this house a world of darkness. They want to drag us all down. Make us like them, or destroy us.’
‘No!’ said Coral horrified. ‘We must be able to stop them?’
Ramone raised his eyes to hers, now resting his fin on her arm.
‘I’m sorry to lay this on you, girl, but it all comes down to you.’
‘To me? Why me, Ramone?’ She shivered, remembering the fiery eyes of the stingray.
‘Now, don’t you go worrying. Let me tell you about that stingray. His name is Stealth. He lost his parents, just like you did. But he locked his heart tight shut and vowed never to love or be hurt again. His pain turned to anger and hate. He despises those who can find hope, because he couldn’t.’
Ramone’s words struck at her heart. Coral knew what the pain was like of losing those you love most in the world. To feel love seeping away. She understood what it meant to look into the blackness. She understood how Stealth had become how he was.
Ramone saw her face cloud over.
‘Hey!’ He peered into her face. ‘You’re not like him. No, no, no, no, NO! Not like him at all.’
It was as if Ramone could read her mind.
‘But that’s why he wants to hurt you. He knows that if he can make you lose hope, the Sea House will be his world of despair.’
‘I won’t let that happen, Ramone!’ Coral meant it with all her heart, but her voice was shaking. The stingray, Stealth, terrified her. She had felt he could see into her soul and now she knew there was a dreadful bond between them.
He knew her parents had died and he knew how desperate it had made her feel, because he had felt that too. Stealth knew about the part of her heart that was still so deeply, deeply sad.
Despite this wonderful sea world, the death of her parents left a great sadness inside her, and it frightened her to think that Stealth knew it, and would use it to try to overcome her. Worst of all, she didn’t know if she was strong enough to fight him.
‘Stealth and his Urchin Army are on the rise. Stealth knows he doesn’t have much time left before he must strike. He can sense you have been slipping away from him, finding happiness – ’cos we do have a lot of fun, don’t we, girl?’ Ramone winked.
Coral laughed in spite of herself. ‘You guys definitely know how to have fun!’
‘Yeah, maaaaaan!’ Ramone erupted with laughter again. ‘But Coral, it means Stealth knows he needs to make his move. He grabbed his chance today, but I know that overgrown, flappy-winged, rotten, stinking, smelling…’
‘Ramone?’
‘Ah, yeah, sorry about that, carried away. But that big bad old fish is preparing to strike. We’ve gotta be ready for him and I’m afraid, girl, in the end, it’s your sea house – only you can win it for us all.’
Coral felt sick with terror. A battle? Fight those hideous creatures? How on earth could she ever do that? She lowered her eyes.
Her gaze settled on Fabulous. The courageous fish was sleeping now. Her breathing was light, her delicate eyelids flickered. As Coral watched her friend, who had risked her life to help her, she knew she must, somehow, find the strength inside her, just as Fabulous had. The question was – how?