The Paradise Isles was just in sight nearer the horizon, which meant the trolls had to continue their journey on foot. Anyone from around would be able to spot a large flying glowing creature carrying a handful of trolls on its back.
They couldn't risk it.

"Alright guys, just a little further to walk and we'll be there." Aria exclaimed.

"When you say 'there' where exactly do you mean?" Branch asked. "You said that they weren't letting anyone in or out of the Isles."

"Don't worry, I know the perfect place for us to hide." Aria assured. "It's an underground hideaway in the side of a cliff. No one knows about it apart from me and Dusk who found it." Poppy caught up with Aria as she heard her mention Dusk.

"Who's Dusk?" Poppy asked.

"He's my best friend." Aria replied. "We go exploring together a lot!" Poppy smiled at Aria. "He's a great guy, he really helped and supported me when my mom died." Poppy's face dropped slightly, she almost forgot that Aria had lost her mother.

"He sounds wonderful." Poppy said, trying to sound more positive. Aria smiled at her and nodded.

***

The trolls weren't too far from the boundary of the Isles. Aria pulled her hood over her head so that no one would recognize her if they spotted her. She gathered the trolls behind a tree and told them to stay quiet.

"We need to move quickly and quietly until we're in the tunnel of the hideaway." Aria whispered. She went ahead and into the open cautiously and knelt down by a small stump. The trolls tilted their head in confusion before following behind.

"I don't get it." Hickory said, looking around. "Where's the hideaway?" Aria put a finger to her lips and lifted one of the roots on the side of the stump, underneath there was a dark tunnel which made them gulp.

"Go in and crawl to the end of the tunnel." Aria demanded. Poppy nodded as she went into the dark tunnel first while Aria stayed at the back and made sure all the trolls got in. Once everyone was undercover, she pulled the root back down to conceal the tunnel. It looked as if the tunnel had never even existed.

The inside of the tunnel was cramped, not tall enough for the trolls to walk through so they had to crawl. It was almost pitch-black in there, luckily Poppy lit up her hair to lead the way.

"I can see a light at the end." Poppy exclaimed quietly.

"Good, now hurry up and get over there." Barb said. "I'm tired of staring at Branch's butt!" Branch rolled his eyes at her words.

"I'd gladly swap places with you, Barb." Poppy said casually which made Branch go wide-eyed.

"W-what?" Branch stuttered, completely flustered.

"What?" Poppy looked back at him and smiled as if she had said nothing. The light at the end of the tunnel was coming from behind streams of vines covering the entrance of the hideaway. Poppy brushed back the vines to reveal a huge cavern covered with grass and moss with a small pond in the middle. It had even more vines hanging off the ceiling among the stalactites. It was such a beautiful place.

"We can use this as a base while we figure out what to do about Zora." Aria explained. "Feel free to relax at the time. There's also a beach outside, we're still pretty far from the boundary so hopefully we won't be spotted." The trolls obeyed and immediately started to relax and recover form the long journey. Hickory and Barb caught up on lost sleep, Trollex relaxed in the pond. Branch however, kept on thinking about what to do about the anniversary. All the fireworks were gone and even if there were more, there wasn't enough time to organize it all.
For now he had to focus on helping Aria, but the thought kept on lingering in the back of his mind.

***

In the evening, Branch made a fire in the center of the hideaway so they could all keep warm in the night. He had even packed some rations for them to eat such as berries, which they all seemed to appreciate.
Aria didn't eat a lot, she was lost in thought. Thinking about what Zora was going to do to the tribe, thinking about how her family was, but she couldn't stop thinking about the mysterious power from earlier most of all. She had never created anything like that before, nor had she seen anyone else do it. She had a feeling deep down that she knew what it was, but she couldn't be too sure. She needed to ask someone who knew the ocean very well.

She tapped King Trollex on the shoulder, asking if she could talk to him for a moment. He nodded and she led him over by the edge of the hideaway.

"Trollex, you know a lot about the ocean, right?" Aria asked.

"It's been my home for my whole life!" Trollex smiled. Aria took a breath to build up the courage to ask him.

"Have you ever heard of Kairi? The goddess of the ocean?" Aria asked him. Trollex tilted his head before putting a hand to his chin to think about it.

"It doesn't ring a bell." He replied. "But I have heard of a guard of the sea, that keeps the ocean in balance." Aria looked over to the side for a moment, thinking to herself. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, I'm just curious." Aria smiled. "That's all I wanted to ask, thank you." Trollex smiled back at her before going to rejoin the others, leaving Aria to her thoughts. The only explanation to the power she could think of was that it had to come from a goddess. But she had to prove this. She walked over to the entrance of the tunnel to leave the hideaway when Poppy noticed her.

"Ari, where are you going?" Poppy asked. Aria froze in her tracks.

"I just need to do something." Aria said. "I don't know when I'll be back but be sure to get some rest, we have a big day tomorrow."

"Please be careful, Ari." Branch warned. Aria nodded before leaving the trolls to rest.

***

It had been about an hour since Aria had left and the others were getting worried.

"Maybe we should check on her. What if something's wrong?" Poppy said, concerned. Branch put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

"Don't stress about it Popcorn, she has Echo if she gets into trouble." Barb assured. But Poppy still looked so worried.

"How about I go out and see if I can find her?" Branch suggested. "Besides, I need to talk to Trollex alone." Trollex looked confused, but still agreed to go.

"Be careful, Branchie." Poppy begged as she kissed his cheek. Branch gave her a reassuring smile before leaving with Trollex through the tunnel.

"Are you okay, Branch?" Trollex asked. Branch had a sad look on his face as he climbed out of the stump and started to walk towards the coast.

"What am I going to do about my anniversary?" Branch asked. "I was counting on this fireworks display to work and now I have nothing for her." Trollex put a hand on his back.

"You have yourself." Trollex said. "Prince D and I have told you a hundred times, Poppy knows how much you love her and will want to spend the day celebrating your love." Branch lowered his head. "Hey, if you really want to do something for her, take her out to a romantic dinner or something, she would love that."

"Are you su-" Branch asked before spotting a faint blue speck through the corner of his eye. It was Aria. She was kneeling on the shore, right by the water.

"What's she doing?" Trollex asked Branch who shrugged in return, so they both went to investigate. She had her hands in the shallow water with her eyes shut, she looked relaxed yet tense at the same time, as if she was focusing on something.

"Ari?" Branch asked. Aria was so surprised that she nearly jumped out of her own skin.

"You guys nearly gave me a heart attack!" Aria blurted. Both Branch and Trollex retreated slightly. "What are you doing out here?"

"What are you doing out here?" Branch asked. "You're the one by the ocean at night with your eyes shut." Aria didn't respond, she just turned her head to look at the ocean again.

"Aria, what's going on?" Trollex asked. "Ever since we landed, you've been acting really strange." Aria knew there was no way to hide it anymore and she had to be honest.

"You know when we were attacked by the beasts earlier and...there was that water power?" Aria said. Branch and Trollex nodded. "T-that wasn't me." They tilted their heads at Aria's words.

"What do you mean? Who was it then?" Branch asked.

"I think that power came from Kairi, the goddess of the ocean." Aria said. Branch and Trollex went wide-eyed. "I don't know why she's here, that's why I'm trying to call to her."

"Okay. How do you call to her?" Branch asked. Aria took off her cape and tossed it aside and stood by the water. He had a feeling he knew what Aria was going to do.

"I need to put my trust in her." Aria said. "I'm going underwater to see if she'll come to me." She ordered Echo to go to Branch and Trollex, making sure she would stay.

"But what if you drown?" Branch panicked.

"Echo can feel when I'm in real trouble. If anything happens, she can help me." Aria explained. "But I have to try and reach out to Kairi." Branch and Trollex still looked concerned, but Aria nodded to them. "I'll be fine, I promise."

Aria walked through the shallow water until it was deep enough to swim in. Once she couldn't touch the ground anymore, she took a deep breath and dived down into the water.

She looked around for any signs of Kairi, a glow, a sound, anything. But nothing was found. She shut her eyes and relaxed, reaching out her hand.

"Come to me." She mouthed the words, awaiting for something to happen.

Back on the surface, moments had passed, feeling like an eternity  Branch and Trollex were getting worried. It felt like Aria was underwater for so long. Too long.
They noticed Echo start to flinch and whimper. Something had to be wrong.

"What's going on out here?" Poppy asked with Barb and Hickory following behind all of them catching up with the others and watching the ocean.

Aria could feel her breath getting shorter and shorter, but tried her best to stay calm and put her trust in the ocean goddess.
She opened one eye carefully and saw a faint blue glow coming towards her. As it got closer, its shape started to change from a glowing light to the form of an animal. Aria felt it push against her feet as it brought her to the surface.
Aria burst out of the water with a gasp. The trolls sighed in relief, so glad that she was okay. They were shocked when they saw that Aria was being carried by a glowing wave. The wave broke and gently set Aria down on the shore.

"Ari!" Poppy cried, running over to her. "What were you thinking?" But before Aria could respond a large glowing manta ray appeared from the ocean. It was a sapphire color with lighter markings on its back of swirls and patterns. Its eyes were piercing white, made from pure light. The trolls couldn't keep their eyes off it.

"Kairi..." Aria muttered, completely amazed by the goddess. She knelt down on her knees to bow before her. She looked back up at the goddess and spoke. "What brings you here? Why did you come to us?" The goddess didn't speak, instead she flew around the trolls in a circle a couple of times before returning to her original position by the sea. A smile spread across Aria's face.

"Not to be rude or anything but what does flying around us indicate?" Hickory whispered to Aria.

"It means she's here to protect us." Aria explained. "And guide us on our journey." The trolls all cheered, delighted by the news. Aria lowered her head to thank Kairi.

"That means there's a less chance that we'll die!" Barb exclaimed. "Right?" She smiled awkwardly, hoping she was right.

"Let's hope so." Aria chuckled.